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THE 



HISTORY OF PORTSMOUTH, 



HENRY ''SLIGHT, ESQ, 




PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND SOLD BY THE 
BOOKSELLERS. 



138*. 



THE 



MILITARY HISTORY 



PORTSMOUTH. 



i by 

HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ 



> - ° 






PORTSMOUTH : 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 






HISTORY OF PORTSMOUTH, 



The Towns of Portsmouth, Portsea, Landport, Southsea, and the 
suburbs, situate at the south-west point of the island of Portsea, 
seventy miles from London ; form, with the Harbour, and Gosport 
and its suburbs on the opposite shore, the celebrated sea-port called 
Portsmouth, 

The Town of Portsmouth dates its origin from the reign of Richard 
the First, whose ministers perceiving the advantagous situation of 
the land at the mouth of the noble inlet of the sea, and at the bottom 
of the capacious roadstead or bay, solicited from the King a royal 
charter for the then small fishing village or town standing on the 
beach; the monarch concurring in their request, established the royal 
borough on certain portions of the lands of the island of Portesay 
which were in the possession of the crown, and retaining in his own 
power the feudal or territorial rights, incorporated the place under 
the title of " our borough of Portsmouth," granted to such as were 
willing to become resident inhabitant householders or Burgesses, cer- 
tain powers of holding marts and fairs, and exempted them from 
many secular exactions to which the inhabitants of other places 
(not being boroughs) were liable. 

The King also granted the following, (being a part of the Great 
Seal of the Monarch), as the 

HERALDIC CREST OF THE BOROUGH, 

a Crescent of Gold on a Shield of azure, with a blazing star of eight 
rays of silver between the horns. The shield surmounted by an 
Escallop shell of Silver, and surrounded by an enrichment of golden 
scales of fish and triton shells, emblematical of its situation " on the 
margent of the Silver Sea." 

THE COMMON SEAL OF PORTSMOUTH 

was probably executed in the reign of Edward the First, and consists 
of two parts — on the Obverse is a Ship riding on a Stormy Sea, with 
her anchor at the side. Two figures in the act of rowing occupy the 
space behind the mast ; two others placed on the forecastle are 



blowing long trumpets, while two more are busily engaged on the 
yard unfolding the sail. The mast is supported by strong four-cord 
rigging, and on the summit is a flag, with three indents ; rigging" 
also passes from the mast to the head and stern of the vessel, and 
the poop is elevated and square, and appears to contain a figure.—* 
This part passes into the circle which contains the words SIGIL- 
LVM * COMMVNE * DE * PORTEMVTHA. The Common 
Seal of Portsmouth. This portion of the Seal corresponds very 
nearly to that of Southampton and other sea ports, and is emblema- 
tical of the jurisdiction of th? Port by the ancient Bailiffs of the 
Town, to whom the royal mandates were usually addressed relative 
to naval affairs. The reverse represents a rich gothic shrine, and is 
altogether of an Ecclesiastical character. The shrine is divided into* 
three pointed arches, surmounted by pinnacles, ornamented with tre- 
foils, crockets and finals : In the centre one, on a pedestal, stands 
the figure of the Virgin and Child ; in the right hand arch, St. Ni- 
cholas, and in the left St. Thomas, both with mitres, episcopally 
robed, and having in their hands crooked Croziers. The inscription 
round runs thus : PORTVM : VIRGO : IVVA : NICHOLAE : 
FOVE : ROGE : THOMA :— "This port O Virgin assist I O Saint 
Nicholas cherish ! O Thomas pray for," and these prayers were ad- 
dressed to the Virgin, in whose honor a Chapel was dedicated in 
the town, to St. Nicholas, as the especial protector of mariners* 
to whom was dedicated the hospital of Domus Dei, and to St* 
Thomas as the Patron of the Town Church. The workmanship of 
this portion of the seal is of the finest kind, and it was most probably 
executed by some eminent man. 

" The parishes of St. Thomas and St. Mary Colewort, in the town 
of Portsmouth, are one parish (though anciently two), blended and 
consolidated, now known by the name, and called the Parish of 
Portsmouth, cannot now be divided, and therefore the whole must 
be deemed and considered as one." 

Boundaries of the Parish of Portsmouth commences at low-water 
mark, one hundred paces to the south-east of the Hot-walls (King's 
Ravelin) \ proceed in a northerly direction into the large moat, cross 
the little moat close to the right-hand wall of the large moat till 
the small spur leading to Land port-bridge is reached ,' cross the moat 
again, proceed along the outer wall to Landport-bridge ; then i\ong; 
the moat, close to the outer wall, to nearly opposite the angle formed 
by the line from Quay (now King George's) gate, cross the road (by 
permission) to the King's-mill, keep close to the Mill ; follow that lines 
to the Bastion, at Mill-gate ; mount the Bastion, descend on the oppo- 



site side close to the Portcullis, thence in a direct line (intersecting ob- 
liquely the foot bridge and water) to the centre of the Gun-wharf large 
gates, thence in a direct line to the Store-keeper's house, halfway 
through this house, up three steps to the left ; proceed in that line ; de- 
scend three steps to the right, follow the course of the entry to the 
garden fence, thence to a pear-tree in the First Clerk's garden, thence 
to a small chimney in the superintendant's laundry (late Spencer's), 
thence to the angle of the wall, touching the Common Hard, thence 
along the Harbour line, and cross over to the Point from the nearest 
angle. Secondly, from the left hand of Spring-street, or on an angle 
to No. 7, to Martyr-yard, in Fountain-street, then in a line inter- 
secting the chimneys of the double line of houses, straight on by the 
Jate Marine Infirmary, including the water-course, to the weigh- 
bridge, and from the corner of Halfway Houses to the corner of the 
Weigh-bridge-house, including the waste land formed by the angle." 

The principal streets in Portsmouth, which are handsome, well- 
built, and neatly paved, run in parallel lines, and are intersected by 
others of less note at right angles. The High-street divides the town 
into two equal parts. In it are the principal inns, libraries, shops, and 
banks. On the north side are St. Thomas, Crown, Warblington, Pro- 
spect, and King streets : Penny-street is towards the south ; in it are 
the gaol, some large barracks, and various mercantile establishments ; 
and|beyond is St. Nicholas-street, containing barracks for soldiers. 
St. Mary's-street is the principal cross street, and the great thorough- 
fare to Portsea. In a line with it are White Horse street and Barrack- 
street {formerly Peacock-lane). A second range of cross streets is 
towards the centre of the town, and the principal carriage-road 
to Portsea ; viz. Lombard-street, Red Lion-lane, Pembroke-street 
(formerly Fighting-cock-lane, and more anciently Genmell-street,) 
and Green-row, which last is the principal road to Southsea through 
King Williarn's Gate. A third cross street, called Oyster-street, 
passes from the Quay-gate to the Grand Parade, a large square 
space, which communicates with the Ramparts, and is used as a 
military Parade Ground ^ beyond this is a Paddock, formerly the 
lawn of the Government House, and more anciently the close of 
the HOSPITAL OF DOMUS DEI. The space commonly called 
$he Point extends from the lower end of High-street (where it passes 
King James' s-gate), and in aline with it through Broad-street down 
to the water's edge, forming an island suburb, surrounded by a lake 
or camber: it is broad and well paved, containing many very ex- 
tensive mercantile establishments, shops, inns, &c. On one side is 
«an open space called Bath-square, and several streets, viz. East, 



West, Tower, and St. James-streets, branch off in opposite directions* 
About seventy years ago there were a number of small houses ir* 
the centre of Broad-street, called Fisherman r s-row, about one hun- 
dred and fifty feet in length, and situated nearly opposite to what is 
now the Blue Post hotel. A stake with a large iron ring Was placed 
in the ground at one end of this row, at which it was customary or* 
every Shrove Tuesday to bail a bull. 

1809 — June 24th, on the beach at this part of the town, a dread- 
ful explosion took place, attended with most serious consequences. — 
The 2d battalion of the 8th regiment, having disembarked from 
foreign service, left for several days their baggage and ammunition 
on the shore : about eleven o'clock A. M. an old woman, who had 
been sitting for some time on one of the casks of gunpowder smok- 
ing her pipe, incautiously emptied it among the baggage, when one 
of the barrels immediately exploded. The effects were dreadful — 
more than thirty men, women and children, were literally blown to 
atoms m T their bodies presented the most awful spectacle, and limbs 
and heads were strewed in all directions, and several taken from the 
very tops of the adjoining houses. .Some idea may be formed of 
the explosion, by one poor fellow being thrown over a considerable 
extent of building into an adjoining street, the figure of whose man- 
gled body we saw impressed on the front of the house against which 
it fell ; and a thigh of another was found a considerable distance up 
the Broad-street, whilst scarcely a single pane of window for near 
half the length of the street remained unbroken, and a great part 
of the store-rooms adjoining were completely destroyed. The bar- 
rel that exploded stood in a tier with sixteen others, which were ex- 
pected every moment to blow up : a company of soldiers with a few 
resolute sailors at their head, aided by the inhabitants, removed the 
remaining barrels and prevented destruction to the greater part of 
the town. The very woman who was the cause of the explosion^ 
strange to say, remained unhurt I 

On the beach stand the wharves and stores of Mr. Lindegren, agent 
for the India Company ; and the Star and Garter and Quebec taverns ; 
about the centre of Broad-street is the Baltic Wharf, erected by Messrs. 
Burridge, and over it a lofty square tower ; the well-known London 
waggon and coach-offices are behind the Blue Posts inn ; and in Bath 
square and Broad-street are the various establishments connected 
with the shipping interests, viz. the offices of the several consulates, 
agents, water-companies, the Bethel Chapel and School, the Watch- 
house, Steam-packet offices, Coal-exchansres, the offices of the Ame- 
rican Packets, (formerly the Custom House) and many others. 



At the lower end of Broad -stTeet is the ferry from Portsmouth io 
Gosport, regulated by act of parliament, proper fares according to 
the state of the weather being affixed. It is better to take a boat at 
a trifling expense, and thus avoid trouble, importunity and delay : 
the boats are excellent and the seamen very expert ; they are to be 
obtained here and at the Portsea Hard for all places within the har- 
bour, and at the Sally Port, for Spithead, Isle of Wight, &c. Pack- 
ets, steam-vessels, &c. aTe also constantly sailing for the different 
ports in the neighbourhood, information respecting which can be 
obtained at the different offices add at the hotels. The fare for each 
person from Portsmouth or Portsea to GospoTt is one penny, or in 
foul weather twopence, which is shown by a blue flag hoisted on 
Gosport market-house. A single wherry sixpence, in foul weather 
one shilling. 

1754 — the inhabitants erected in Bath-square, Broad-street, (to 
which it gives name) a Bathing-house, containing four baths, 
dressing-rooms, &c. It is close to the Quebec hotel, plentifully sup- 
plied with water, and, though small, is a convenient and comfortable 
place. 

A landing place or pier has been erected near the Custom House 
Watch house (1837). The capabilitities of this part of the town are 
very great for mercantile speculators. It is surrounded by the sea, 
has within its grasp as it were, a fine Basin, and by a judicious erec- 
tion of Wharves and Docks, might be rendered a most valuable 
appendage to the Town and Port. Proposals have been often 
made for converting the Camber into Docks ; we trust the time is 
not far distant when such a plan may be carried into execution. It 
has undergone a survey, and plans have been published by Mr, 
Owen, of the High Street, Portsmouth, and Mr. Livesay of Portsea. 

MILITARY HISTORY, FORTIFICATIONS, CASTLES, 
BARRACKS, &c. 

The earliest record of the Fortification of Portsmouth is found in 
one of the Patent rolls of the Thirteenth year of Edward the Third, 
where occurs an order or Royal mandate for enclosing with walls 
[claudend] paving with stone and improving our Town of Portsmouth. 

King Richard the Third made ^William Uvedale, Knight, Keeper 
of Portsmouth, Supervisor and Governor at the King's pleasure, and 
afterwards the same King appointed William Mirfelde to the like 
office, together with the custody of Portchester. These appointments 
may be found in the Harleian Library, No. 433 : 121. 



6 

PORTSMOUTH IN 1546. 

" There is at this point of the haven Portsmouth Town and a great 
round Tower almost double in quantity and strength to that that is 
on the West side of the haven right again it : and here is a mighty 
chain of iron to draw from tower to tower.'' 

" The town of Portesmuth is muried from the est tour a forough 
length withe a mudde waulle armid with tymbre, whereon be great 
peaces both ofyron and brassen ordinances, and this peace of waulle 
having a diche without it, runnith so far flat south-south-east, and is 
the place moste apte to defende the toun there open to the hauen : 
ther runnith a diche almost flat est for a space, and wythin it is a 
waulle of mudde like to the other, and so there goeth rounde aboute 
the toun to the circuite of a myle : there is a gate of tymbre at the 
north est of the toun, and bye it is cast up an hille of erth diched, 
whereon be gunnesto defend the entre into the toun by land. I learned 
in the toun that the tourres in the hauen mouth were begun in King 
Edward iv. tyme, and set forwarde yn building by Richard iij. ; King 
Ilenrie viij. ended them at the procuration of Fox, Bishop of Win- 
chester. King Henry the vij. of late tymesette in Portesmuth capi- 
taines and certen soldiours in garrison."* 

1551, May 20, Sir Richard Wingfield, Rogers and were 

appointed to view the state of Portsmouth and to bring again their 
opinions concerning fortifying thereof. 

FROM KING EDWARD'S JOURNAL. 

August 8th, Removing to Portesmuth : 9th, in the morning I went 
to Chateris bulwark and viewed also the town ; in the afternoon went 
to see the storehouse, and then took a boat and went to the wooden 
tower and so to Hazleford ; upon viewing of which things ill, it then 
was devised two forts to be made upon the entry of the Haven— one 
where Ridley's tower standeth upon the north which maketh 
the Camber. The other upon a little neck standing on the other 
side the haven where stood an old Bulwark of wood. This was 
devised for the strength of the haven. It was meant that that 
to the town side should be both stronger and larger ; 10th, Henry 
Dudley lay at Portsmouth with a warlike company of 140 good sol- 
diers. The tower here mentioned is the Round or 

" KING EDWARD'S TOWER," 

at the entrance, which has been of late years considerably enlarged 
and raised. The line of covered batteries extending from it was 

* From Leland's Itinerary, Vol. 3, Page 112— Edition 1796. 



erected by James the Second, whose initials and crown still appeal* 
on almost every key-stone, with the date. The ancient Sally-port 
with its small turret has been demolished, and the passage consider- 
ably enlarged and improved. In front of this line of fortification 
lay buried in the shingle the enormous chains used to defend the en- 
trance of the port. A part may still be seen on Block-house beach. 
In the American disturbance, the capstans were repaired behind the 
round tower, and on the opposite shore, and the chains were raised 
and tightened at the time a French fleet was hovering off Plymouth. 
From an old engraving it appears there was a considerable embank- 
ment on the sea-side of the tower, about one hundred years since- 
A low wall passes across the camber moat, (enclosing a covered way 
and staircase) to the ancient batteries on each side the lower gate- 
way, which contain covered chambers, the windows of which have 
been closed up : above are platforms to which broad flights of stone 
steps lead on each side. 

GOVERNOR GIBSON. 

" The people of Portsmouth tell strange stories of the severity of 
one Gibson who was governor of this place in the Queen's time, to 
his soldiers, and show you a miserable dungeon near the town-gate, 
which they call ' Johnny Gibson's Hole,' where for trifling misde- 
meanors he used to confine his soldiers till they were almost starved 
to death." 

On the death of Anne, John Carter (the grandfather of the late 
John Carter) being in the Royal Exchange, was a spectator of the 
ceremony of the proclamation of George the First. Having finished 
his business, he immediately set off for Portsmouth on foot. On his 
arrival here, on August the 3rd, he promulgated the news. Parties 
at that time ran high, and many expressed hopes that the House of 
Brunswick would not succeed to the dominions of these realms. 
Among the most zealous of the Jacobites here was Gibson, the 
Governor, who threatened Mr. Carter with imprisonment for what he 
termed a false and seditious report.* 

KING JAMES'S GATE, 

is a structure in the Venetian stile, with double Corinthian pilasters on 
each side the archway, an entablature supporting a circular tower, 
and ball, and ornamental spires on each side. The inscription is 
IACOBVS : SECVNDVS : A : R : III : AN : DOM : 1687. On 

* From a brief memoir of the late Dr. Bay ley of Chichester, who was related 
to the Carter family. 



8 

the key-Stone are the initals I R, surmounted by an imperial crowd, 
with the date 1687, and below the Ordnance arms, three cannon 
on a shield. A heavy drawbridge is in front. 

About fifty years since, during a tempest, the marble ball fell 
from the summit of the tower of the gate, and split into fragments 
at the feet of two ladies who were passing at the time. The gate- 
way remained in a very dilapidated state till 1826, when being un- 
der repair, the inscription, which was nearly obliterated, was restored. 
On June 29th the repairs were completed, and the present immense 
marble ball placed on the summit. A lofty stone wall, through which 
is the opening called the New Sallyport or King's Stairs, reaches 
to the 

ANCIENT GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 

Before the dissolution of the Priory of God's House, this square 
building was the residence of the Governor ; at a later period it was 
converted into a powder-magazine for the garrison, and used as such 
for many years. It was probably erected in the reign of Edward III. 
or Richard the III. as it appears delineated in Holbein's picture of 
the Wars of Henry VIII. In 1623-4, the inhabitants erected, in a 
circular niche on the centre of the northern front, a 

BRASS BUST OF CHARLES THE FIRST, 

richly gilt, encircled by a wreath of laurel and oak ; and in basso 
relievo below, the royal arms. The small slab above the bust, with 
the name, seems of modern date. The following inscription was 
on a square stone : " King Charles the First : after his travels 
through France and Spain, and having passed many dangers both 
by sea and land, he arrived here the 4th day of October, 1623: 
there was the greatest applause of joy for his safety throughout the 
kingdom that ever was known or heard of." The statue was re- 
gilt in 1814. 

" Our most nobell Prince Charles arrived at Portsmouth the fifth 
of October, from Spaine, 1623, being Sondaye at 9 o'clock in the 
morning."* 

" OFF WITH YOUR HATS" ! ! ! OR REVERENCE 
TO ROYAL STATUES. 

General the Lord Viscount Wimbledon to the Mayor of Portsmouth. 
Mr. Mayor and the rest of your Brethren — 

" Whereas at my last being at Portsmouth I did recommend the 
beautifying of your streets by setting in the signs of your inns to the 

* From the fly-leaf of an old copy of "Elyofs Governor j" written by an eye- 
witness named Lilly. 



tiouses, as they are in all civilized towns, so now I must recommend 
it to you most earnestly in regard of his Majestie's figure or statue, 
that it hath pleased his Majestie to honor your Town with more than 
any others : so that these signs of your Inns do not only obscure his 
Majestie's figure, but outface it, as you yourselves may well perceive. 
Therefore 1 desire you all, that you will see that such an inconve- 
niency be not suffered ; but that you will cause against the next 
spring, that it be redressed, for that any disgrace offered his Majes- 
tie's figure is as much as to himself. To which end I will and com- 
mand all the officers and soldiers not to pass it by without putting off 
their hats. 

I hope I shall need use no other authority to make you do it; for 
that it concerneth your obedience to have it done, especially now 
you are told of it by myself. Therefore I will say no more but wish 
health to you all, and so rest your assured loving friend, 

WIMBLEDON.* 

Oct. 22, 1635. 

To the west of the Government House was a few years ago a part 
of the Victualling Department, of which the following is the account : 

July 9, 1713. • Lieut.-Colonel Archer represented to the Board 
of Ordnance, that certain stores, intended to be built on the Quay, 
would be in front of one of the batteries of the Garrison. Jonas 
Hanway, Esq. came to Portsmouth, to ascertain the expense of con- 
verting the old Magazine into a store, and the Ordnance gave consent 
that the Commissioners of the Victualling-board should take posses- 
sion of it, instead of building stores on the Quay : which they did 
on July 10, 1779, making the necessary alterations, and erecting an 
new slaughter-house on a piece of waste-ground adjoining, from 
the design of Mr. Thomas Hoskins, at an expense of 1382/. 4*. 9d„ 
This was removed a few years ago. 

The Board of Admiralty erected, in 1823, above the roof of the 
Magazine, a Semaphore for transmission of signals, which is effected 
between this and London in three minutes. It is of wood, framed 
and bolted, and contains several apartments, and a variety of beauti- 
ful mechanism. The entrance is on the Platform, and carried by an 
archway over the roof; from the square, at the summit, rises the 
mechanism of the Semaphore and a flag-staff. But few traces of 
the original appropriation of this old Government-house can now be 
discovered. Previous to the repairs, (1827) traces of four windows 
could be discerned on the sea-side, and a species of loop-hole in the 

From Stafford's Letters and Despatches. 

B 



10 

centre ; three on the north side* and traces of several nea¥ 
the ground, which afforded light to vaults. There are indications 
of four large windows on the east, and one towards the west. Within 
on the ground-floor, is an old-fashioned stone doorway (with iron 
hinges for a door,) leading to a passage now closed up ; and a second 
appears at the eastern extremity. On the next floor are only the 
brick arches of the Magazine. The external walls are eight feet 
thick, and on the western side seventeen. The building having been 
lined with brickwork, no clue to the internal arrangement of the 
apartments can be traced. A doorway opens through the sea-wall 
to a wooden wharf, called the Beef Stage, which projects into the 
sea, to enable vessels to approach for supplies of fresh provision. It 
is by the staircase near this wharf, that persons of rank generally en- 
ter the Garrison. During the visit of the Lord High Admiral, the 
Semaphore was magnificently illuminated. The sea-wall is now 
entirely restored and strengthened. 

Several portions of the Fortification were originally erected from 
the proceeds of a Lottery for Plate which was drawn in 1569, by 
order of Elizabeth at the West-end of St. Paul's Cathedral. 

In October, 1586, the Privy Council gave warrant to Stephen 
Bull, Master-Gunner, to take note of all such Ordnance as was 
needful to be supplied to the Town of Portsmouth and the New 
Fortifications there, and what number of Gunners the same would 
require. (This account is in the Harleian Library — (368-54.) At 
this period Richard Popinjaye was Surveyor of the works. 

In 1587 an abstract of the charge of the New Works was returned 
to the Council, and letters were addressed to the Lord Treasurer. 
(These are also in the Harleian Library No. 6845-23.) In 1623, 
an extensive survey was made by the officers of the Ordnance, of the 
works, and barracks and other remarkables, importing the King's ser- 
vice in Southsea Castle and Portsmouth. (Harl : Lib : 1326. ) 

1665. — Sir Philip Honey wood, Governor. He planted the Trees 
on the Walls of Portsmouth. 

Between the Government House and the Sally-port is the Military 
Prison, and the Residence of one of the Gunners. 

Next appears the Platform Battery, which commands a magnifi- 
cent sea view. Here is a sun-dial : and a few years since a Sema- 
phore stood in the centre. A Signal-house on this bastion was erec- 
ted in the reign of Elizabeth, as appeared from the date, 1569, in a 
nook at the extremity. Adjoining was the state chamber, over the 
door of which was a marble slab, bearing this inscription : "CARO- 
LVS : 11 : AN : REG : XXXIHI : A : D : 1682." It was used 



11 

for courts-martial ; but sold by auction Dec. 5, 1827, and demolished. 
At a short distance anciently stood a semicircular tower, from the 
foot of which to the situation of the Hot-wall Bastion was an arm 
of the sea, reaching to the Governor's green, and communicating 
with the moats, which were thus filled at every tide : by the erec- 
tion of the new works, the extension of the Platform, &c. in 1733, 
it has been enclosed, and the sea is now admitted by a sluice. This 
battery mounts twenty-one pieces of cannon, used for salutes ; and 
at one extremity were four remarkable cannon of tremendous calibre ; 
and on the King's Bastion (being the next towards the East) many 
others of the same proportions. They were taken in L'Impetuex in 
Lord Howe's vtctory of the 1st. of June, 1794, and were much ad- 
mired. They are now removed. On the latter battery are many 
large bombs ; and beneath is a vast Magazine. The Garrison flag 
is displayed on this part of the works ; and a cannon is daily fired 
at the rising and setting of the sun. In the front towards the sra, is a 
strong ravelin with a bridge across the moat, and at equal distances 
all round the towns, these smaller outworks flank the curtains of the 
inner wall. At a short distance from the King's Bastion is 

KING WILLIAM THE IV's GATE, 

Erected in 1833-4 — in lieu of a small postern called the Spur Gate, 
leading to Southsea ; passing which we reach the avenue of Trees, 
and see several batteries used for parade grounds, the exterior of the 
barracks, and the town of Southsea to the east of the walls : and 
after a circuit of some extent, reach the 

LANDPORT, OR ST. THOMAS GATE-WAY, 

the principal entrance to the town, consisting of a fine plain arch- 
way, surmounted by a tower and dome, with large drawbridges 
across the moats ; two guard-houses, and a smaller gateway for 
foot passengers, at a little distance. At this gate, the interesting 
ceremony of delivering up the keys of the garrison by the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor takes place whenever the Sovereign visits Portsmouth. 
During this the gates are closed ; until the keys being returned 
to the proper officers, the royal command is given "to throw open 
the gates of his Majesty's fortress, that the King may enter." The 
crown above the inner part of this gateway was found about forty 
years ago, in the rubbish above the arch when the earth was re- 
moved for some repairs. It formed the keystone of the ancient 



n 

gate ; had been removed during the Commonwealth ; and wasrecnf* 
and placed in its present situation, by the late Mr, James Hay, of 
Queen-street, Portsea. 

At the side of the small gate-way was formerly a stately elm-tree, of 
noble size ; it projected from the walls which had been built round it. 
Through this gate pass the water-pipes of the different companies. 
The flag-staff was erected October 2, 1800 ; and the Magazine on 
the adjacent bastion has been rebuilt (1827,) Within the gateway 
and on the Ravelin are Guard-houses. The Walls continue to encir- 
cle the Town, passing the Colewort Barracks and St Mary's Close y 
and having in front the Mill Dam and the Town of Portsea, with 
the Mill Redoubt, till the passenger reaches the Gateway or Wicket 
leading to the Dock-road through the Fortification : here they turn 
to the South-west, and are not so strong or lofty. The Sea formerly 
reached this portion of the works ; and all the Fortifications on the 
South-west side of the Town are now in the opinion of competent 
judges, useless, inasmuch as the arsenal and stores are exterior ta 
them. It has been more than once proposed to remove them; add- 
ing the space thus gained to the New Naval Gunwharf and making 
the road along Prospect-row from Portsmouth to Portsea. 

Among the privy-purse expenses of King Henry the 8th, is the 
following curious entry. " July 20, 1532, paid to Xpofer Morys y 
Gunner, Cornelys Johnson, the Master-Smith, and Henry Johnson 
for their costs in riding to Portsmouth to view the King's Ordnance 
there, by the space of ten days at ten shillings the day, £ : V." 

1708, March. An act passed for appointing Commissioners to treat 
and agree for certain tenements, land, &c. as shall be judged proper 
for better fortifying Portsmouth. 

On the 13th of June, 1709, Sir Richard Onslow, Bart, and others,, 
were appointed Commissioners to treat and agree for lands as shall 
be necessary for better fortifying Portsmouth, and for putting into 
force an act of Parliament." 

The Walls pass towards the Camber, having in front the Custom 
House and the Quay, till they pass a large battery crowned with 
Trees and reach 

KING GEORGE'S GATE, 

a noble structure, in the rustic style, adorned with massive pillars, 
and entablature of grand proportions. Above are various apartments 
(formerly the offices of the Governor,) and on the inner side, a large 
Guard-house. Before the erection of the present Gate, (seventy years 
since,) the entrance was through an open arch in the wall, twelve 



13 

feet southward towards the Cage, traces of which are still discernible ; 
and at the extremity of Crown-street was a small wicket, now closed 
by stonework, but the shape of which may still be discovered. Be- 
tween the Quay and King James's-gate is an ancient Bastion, with 
circular portholes, commanding the drawbridge ; on two sides ap- 
pear, in bold sculpture, the initials, " I. R. 1687.*' Here is the 
Military Hospital. The circle of military defence is completed by 
a stone wall of varying height, which passes along the inner Camber 
in front of Oyster-street and White-hart-row, till it reaches the batte- 
ries at King James's Gate. For the purpose of real defence, this 
wall must, from its height, be utterly useless ; its removal, or the 
allowing of openings in it for egress to the merchant-shipping in 
the harbour, would be a very great accommodation, or its site 
might be advantageously occupied by a line of Wharves. 

In the colonnade of fine elms on the Ramparts, is a large rookery. 
The first pair settled in March, 1820. 

On the southern side of the Bastion, opposite King's-terrace, is in- 
scribed in large letters, " W. Legge, 1679." He was Governor 
about the time Parliament granted 6931/. for repairs. James and 
William made great additions; and, since 1770, many others have 
been effected at vast expence. 

The whole of the moats can be readily filled with water up to 
the bridges. A spacious glacis and covert-way surrounds the Forti- 
fications on the land side, forming, with them, nearly a quadrangle. 
From the bottom of the moat, rises a perpendicular stone wall, 
fifteen feet in height, with a double parapet for small arms upon the 
mound, planned in bastions and curtains. The bastions regularly 
flank each other ; and in the angles project the ravelins and spurs 
in all directions. These have been, of late years, planted with wal- 
nut-trees and quickset hedges. The moats were, in 1820, repaired 
and improved, by narrowing and deepning the trenches. The waters 
abound with eels, as they formerly did with mullet ; and in one part 
is a remarkable spring of water of the purest quality. 

" In the Rampart-walls of Portsmouth, where the Portland stone 
is kept soft by the earth behind, the fragments which fall by the 
action of the amosphere exactly resemble those of chalk. The 
mortar used in the erection is that from Butser's-hill, near Peters- 
field." 

July 29, 1714. While the Queen lay ill, the Duke of Ormond 
gave orders for doubling the guards, and assembling the troops : 
and Portsmouth was put in a posture of defence. 

The garrison of Portsmouth generally consists of three regiments 



14 

of Infantry, a division of Royal Marines and Mariner Atillery, detach- 
ments of Royal Artillery, and Engineers for repairing the works. 
These troops are engaged in protecting the Arsenal and public 
buildings ; and in a siege it would require 14,000 men to fully gar- 
rison this place. " 1726, at present Portsmouth is only manned by 
about one hundred invalids." The staff officers are a lieutenant- 
governor, aide-de-camp, major, quarter-master-general, town major, 
adjutant, clerk to lieutenant-governor, chaplain, physi-cian, sur- 
geon, commandant of royal artillery, barrack-masters, &c. ; the office 
of governor has been abolished. 

"MILITARY DISCIPLINE!!" 

August, 1819. His Grace the Duke of Wellington arrived here, 
and proceeded to the Dock-yard. His Grace afterwards took a 
hasty survey of the lines of the Garrison ; duiing which a fine trait 
of discipline was shown by a soldier of the Royal Marine Artillery, 
who, though the person of the Noble Duke had been pointed out to 
him, on seeing him advance upon the lines to look over into the 
ditch, instantly proceeded to warn the Master-general of the Ord- 
nance off, and which order was as promptly obeyed as it was given. 

GUARD HOUSES. 

The main Guard-house of Portsmouth is on the Parade, near the 
Platform Battery, and was erected in the reign of George the Third. 
About 1710 the Guard-house stood much nearer High-street, 
across the Parade, it is thus depicted in some of the plans of that 
period. A second smaller Guard-house is near King James* Gate ; 
this had formerly an arched colonade in front, projecting across the 
pavement. A third Guard is at King William's, a fourth and fifth 
at the Landport, a sixth at King George's Gates, and a seventh at 
the Mill Redoubt. At all these, sentinels keep watch both by day 
and night, as well as at most of the smaller postern gates leading 
from the Garrison. 

ST. MARY'S OR THE COLEWORT BARRACKS. 

" 1694. There are three small parcells of glebe within the towne, 
one is neare a small acre of land called the Vicar's Close, neare 
the Land Port, wich more than fourteen yeares agoe the officers of 
the Ordnance tooke up, to erect thereon an hospital for the garrison, 
wich was done, and is since turned into a barracks for lodging of 



soldiers. I had much trouble about it and was a great loser, but 
at last got forty shillings yearly rent, which, after seven years delay 
and frequent attendance and application to superiors, I gained, 
being part seven years r?nt together, and since have with some 
trouble gained an order for the payment here by a clerk of that 
office alwaye resident in garrison. Kg. Charles y e 2d did promise 
some further compensation for his seizure of that land, and destroying 
the vicar's tithes in the several parishes neare the towne, wich were 
purchased of the owners to enlarge the Fortifications ; but I could 
never by any friendes procure the settlement of aught while the king 
lived, and had feint hopes aftewards to expect aught."* 

The above extract is curious, as showing the date of the erection 
of the Colewort Barracks, which extend some hundred feet, pre- 
senting a fine range of buildings, three stories high, having in 
front a parade-ground of large size, at the extremity of which is a 
building corresponding in style, formerly used as an armoury. In 
the front is a bold armorial sculpture of the English arms in alto- 
relievo. Behind is a second space of ground with ranges of sta- 
bling ; and on the opposite side, the apartments of the officers of the 
Royal Artillery. Government have lately purchased a large piece of 
laud adjoining the barracks for 2000/. and (April 1827) many old 
and ruinous houses near the Parish house have been demolished 
and a Guard-house erected. 

ROYAL MARINE BARRACKS. 

Leland, in his New Year's Gift to Henry viij. states as follows : 

" 1613. King Henrie the vij. at his flrste warres into Fraunce 
erected in the southe parte of the toune vii great bruing houses with 
the implements to serve his shippes at such tyme as they shoul go 
to the se in tyme of warre." 

A part of the houses here described remained till 1825, and were 
latterly known as the Shot-locker. They were of stone, with lofty 
roofs, and the walls of great thickness. 

" 1723, April 17. Samuel Shepherd erected on his Mat ies ground, 
near the Fourhouse Barracks, a series of buildings, in breadth, feet 
211, and in length on the east side next the ramparts, on the south 
next the barracks, and on the west to the gateway, feet 474, and 
on the west next Pennie-street [St. Nicholas-street ?] 125 feet long, 



* Extract of a letter from Thomas Heather, Vicar of Portsmouth, to Doctor 
Nicholas, Warden of the college of Wioton. " 



16 

including the gateway, to contain six shops, fifty-six feet long, the 
remainder for stores, an office for the superintendent, and lodges for 
watchmen, a weighing-machine, twenty-five feet long, seasoning- 
house, forty feet long, and a long storehouse. The elevation to be 
thirty-two feet high, to contain on the east side three stories, and 
on the side next Pennie-street two stories : the whole to be com- 
pleted by the 15th of October, 1723. The foundations to be dug 
out three feet, and the yard paved. The old wall to be pulled down, 
and a new rain-watern cistern erected, and a large well to be sunk. 
The whole being for his Mat ies new cooperadge, and for which Sam- 
uel Shepherd, master bricklayer, was paid two thousand four hundred 
ninetie-four pounds and eleven pence farthing. The coppers, &c. 
to be furnished by Andrew Niblett of St. Edmund the King, Lon- 
don, fitted the same year at 9/. per cwt. and 42/. for a cistern ; and 
the joiners' and house-carpenters' work by Henry Stannyford, Esq* 
of Portsmouth, which together with all the painting was finished on 
Nov. 1, 1723, at a cost of 2000/." 

1753 and 1756. On the removal of the Cooperage to Woevil, 
these stores were converted into marine barracks; and in 1823-4, 
the old Shot locker and several outhouses in a kind of garden or 
close, surrounded by a lofty, ruinous stone wall, being part of the 
original Storehouse close, at the extremity, were demolished, and 
a series of new brick buildings erected on the site, for the marine 
artillery and officers. The whole united barracks now form a length- 
ened square, the principal entrance being opposite Barrack-street. 
In the mess-room are several good paintings: George 111. by 
Northcote ; Lord Barham, and Lord St. Vincent, by Sir W. 
Beechey ; Earl Sandwich, by Zophani ; William IV. 

■Several charitable funds, schools, and a library, exist in this divi- 
sion of royal marines. 

In St. Nicholas-street, in a line with the last-mentioned Quarters, 
stand the 

FOREHOUSE BARRACKS, 

for infantry ; built about sixty years since, on the site of some 
gavel-fronted houses, with a low gallery on the outside, then used 
as quarters for the Invalids (or Old Fogeys). The doors were at 
this time so low that it was an amusement to watch them, in their 
enormous cocked hats, emerge from their habitations. In the 
reign of Elizabeth this place was vacant land, called Forehouse close. 
The present erection will lodge a thousand men and their officers, 
conveniently. 



17 



Battle of Portsmouth. 



tAt the close of the American War, the Athol Highlanders were ordered to embark here 
tor the East Indies. Having enlisted for service only during the -war, they refused, and 
■disarmed their Officers on the Grand Parade. The Main Guard, consisting of the Royal 
Invalids, endeavoured to quell the tumfdt, but having no ammunition, were marching off for 
<a reinforcement, when an enraged Highlander fired, and killed one of them on the Queen's 
bastion — the rest immediately ran off to their Barracks full speed, except their officer, who 
being a cripple Was taken prisoner, and subjected to much ridicule by the victors. The afc- 
fair ended in the Regiment being disbanded.] 



When the long Yankee war had ceased, 

A gallant Highland corps 
Was ordered hither to embark 

For India's distant shore. 

But of the valiant Scots, each man 

Sighed for his native home, 
To join again his native clan. 

And o'er the mountains roam. 

In fair Stoke's Bay the transports lay, 
And boats were on the strand ■: 

No soldier would the word obey, 
Which ordered, «' Leave the land !" 

*" We've served our King and Country well 

Full many a fiery day, 
And is it lawful now to sell, 

And send us far away V* 

The old Fogeys then opposed the squall 
Which every townsman feared, 

*Till whistling shot struck Tommy Prawl 
When q^ck they disappeared. 



Foolish it would have been to stay — 
Their courage who can doubt ? 

But shot and powder none had they— 
What could be done without ? 

Their leader bold was captive caught, 

For quarter forced to beg 5 
In vain upon escape he thought, 

For he'd a wooden leg. 

I've heard the aged folks declare, 

Nor doubt I what they say, 
Those with long tegs the happiest were 

On that eventful day. 

I've heard of one who fled so fast 
(Sure running was no crime), 

Into a builder's cellar east, 
Up to his neck in lime. 

Suffice it, that through all the place 

Confusion held her reign, 
"Till the braw Scots marched off apace, 

When peace appeared again. 



THE CAMBRIDGE BARRACKS, 

At the upper end of Penny-street was formerly a timber-yard and 
carpenters* workshops, known as Stannyford's, and afterwards 
Wheeler's yard.* It was purchased by Government, and commis- 
sariat stores erected there during the Napoleon war. In October, 
1825, they were converted into barracks, and first occupied by the 
9th regiment (Fusileers,) The principal archway, or entrance, is 
opposite the Gaol ; and there is a second opening into High- 
street, with a neat Guard-house. The barracks form a square, the 
apartments on three sides, and a Parade-ground in front, being 
part of a large garden purchased a few years since from Mr. Owen* 

ROYAL MARINE ARTILLERY BARRACKS. 

On the mud lands of the harbour, the Ordnance Board and the 
Commissioners of the Victualling Department, erected about 1809-10, 
a series of large stores, raising the soil to a level with the road- 
way, and thus masking most effectually all the line of fortification 



Samuel Wheeler, proprietor, built ia this place a vessel or yacht of such 
breadth as allowed it to pass through the Quay, or King GeorgeVgate. It was 
•drawn to the water on sledges, and repeatedly caught tire from the weight aad 
friction.'* 



18 

on that side the Town. After some years a portion of these stored 
Were given over by the board to the barrack department, and con* 
verted into Barracks*, being first occupied by the Corps of Marine 
Artillery, and one of the Square stores being converted into the 

MARINE INFIRMARY, 

in lieu of an Hospital formerly occupied in Spring-street, Land- 
port. The barracks consist of a long range of buildings, with a 
narrow Parade -ground . The entrances are from the road leading 
to the Mill Redoubt, and there is egress to the sea. These bar- 
racks are divided from the new Gun-wharf by a lofty wall, and 
from the Custom-house by a part of the Camber Lake, 

THE MILITARY HOSPITAL 

is on a battery in the inner Camber, with an entrance from 
White-heart-row. This was erected in 1833-4. 

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'S HOUSE* 

is situated in the centre of the High-street, and belonged origi- 
nally to Mr. Varloe, a Gentleman of much celebrity in the politi- 
cal history of the town. After his death it was let to pay the taxes,, 
and during the command of Admiral Parker, purchased by go- 
vernment for two thousand pounds as the residence of the Port- 
Admiral. 

" From a Journal of the Imperial Visit. —The Princes of the 
blood resided here. On the night of the twenty-second of June,, 
the front exhibited the Star of the Order of the Garter, twelver 
feet in circumference, in variegated lamps, and on the second and 
third nights, the front was covered with the naval anchor, sur- 
mounted by the diadem and plume of the Regent, producing # 
most resplendent effect.' 7 

The entrance was originally in the centre,- up a flight of stone 
steps. Where now stands the General's office, to the left of the 
mansion, was the carriage entrance to the gardens, in which was a 
large rookery ;. and on the opposite side,, where the entrance now 
is, was a Wall with a small gateway. Previous to the purchase of 
these premises, the Port- Admiral's residence was at No. 106 in the 
High-street, and the office was kept for years in the house which 

* The price paid by the board of Ordnance to the Admiralty in T833> for the 
Lieut-Governor's house (late the Port-Admirals) was, exchange of the Fire-barn on? 
Southsea Common with ten years arrears of rental; the Old Slaughter House 
Store, ou which stands the Semaphore, with forty years arrears of rental^ and** 
fefteen hundred pounds in hard cash. 



19 

now forms the Green-room of the Theatre. On the removal of 
the Admiral's offices to the Dockyard in 1 830 these premises were 
advertised for sale, but on the urgent representations of many na- 
val men on the utter impropriety of the removal of the Admiral 
to the Dock, a place from which no view of Spithead and the fleet 
could be obtained, the sale was stopped, and the house given over 
to the barrack department : since the occupancy of General Mac 
Mahon it has undergone much improvement and repair. The 
garden .behind is extensive, and the stabling and offices are in St 
Thomas's-street 

The former mansion of the Lieutenant-Governor was in St. 
Thomas-street, near the wicket of the Landport-gate ; consisting 
of a comfortable dwelling, with a garden, and all the requisite 
stabling, was purchased from an eminent medical character some 
years since, and handsomely fitted up. This is now appropriated 
for officer's quarters. The quarters of the Marine Artillery were 
in the centre of the High-street, next the residence of the Admi- 
ral; consisting of a large house, purchased in 1825 from the fa- 
mily of the late W. Turner, Esq., an eminent wine-merchant In 
the garden behind were (1827) erected commodious Mess-rooms; 
but on the breaking up of the corps, the property was sold to 
Francis Sharpe, Esq., and pulled down, except the mess-rooms., 
The Marine Officers have also quarters in a large house in Lom- 
bard-street The residence of the Commandant of the Royal 
Marines is the house in St. Thomas'-street, formerly the Agent- 
Victuallers, built about 1700. It is a noble mansion, having a 
flight of steps in front. On the sale of the Victualling Offices 
on September the 17th, 1828, the house, with the gardens, and 
much other property was purchased by J. S. Hulbert, Esq. from 
whom (immediately after its sale by Government) it was rented 
for the Marine service. 

The close and gardens in Green-row, extending to the parade, 
are appropriated to the use of the Lieutenant-Governor. These 
are secured by walls on the side of Penny-street and Green-row, 
and by the ramparts on the east and south. In one corner is an 
enclosed space in front of the magazine, and a low arch-way and 
bridge leads to the Spur or Hot-wall battery on the beach. 

THE NAVAL GUN-WHARF. 

See those deep-throated engines, whose huge roar 
Imbowels with outrageous noise the air, 

Chained thunderbolts and hail 
Of iron globes. milton. 

This arsenal is situate on the edge of the Harbour, or laadgain" 



20 

ed from the sea ; and was commenced in 1797, acting on the sug- 
gestions of General Bentham, for the improvement and enlargement 
of the Ordinance Wharf, in concert with the officers of the Ordnance- 
department at this place ; and so as to combine that extension with the 
general outline of embankment suitable to the improvement in this ; 
port : and, " the providing additional storehouse room for the use 
of the victualling department,, in a manner far more economical,, 
as weE as convenient^ than that already ordered to be obtained, by 
bearing the expense of the erection of a new storehouse for the use 
the Ordnance department." The land was raised above its former 
level by the Earth excavated from the new South Dock in the 
Naval arsenal, as may he seen from the following item : 

" Expenses of cartage of soil to the New Gun- wharf in I800 r 
with extra allowance for ditto, 1672/. 1&. 6d; 51,694% cube 
yards being removed." 

On Thursday, November 28th, 181 1, the foundation stone of the 
large Storehouse on the New Naval Gun-wharf was laid by William y 
Duke of Clarence. Soon after 12 o'Clock, His Royal Highness was 
received by Lieutenant-General Whetham and the principal officers 
of the garrison and a guard of honour. The company proceeded to> 
the bottom of the foundation, attended by General Eveleigh, when 
a bed was prepared, to which the Duke put the finishing stroke,, 
and a fine block of Portland Stone was lowered down, upon which 
was an appropriate inscription ; and in the centre was fixed a brass 
box, containing the coins of the realm ; on the ceremony being 
concluded, the band struck up, " God save the King/' and the Duke 
retired amid the loud cheers of the multitude. 

The building of brick and stone presents a massive front towards 
the Town, and three sides of a square towards the Harbour, having 
in the centre, a noble archway, surmounted by a lofty tower and 
cupola, containing an excellent clock. This building contains gun- 
carriages and every description of Sea Ordnance Store, ready at 
a moment's notice. 

There is a second long Store near this called "the small Sea 
Armoury," and not far distant a Magazine built between 1811 and 
1814: the former of these was built by the Ordnance, but given 
up to the Naval department. On one of these the tower and clock 
was originally placed ; and at the period of the building, the Cam- 
ber was deepened,, and the mud removed by an invention of a. 
series of revolving, buckets,, moved by a steam-engine,, on the 
suggestion of General Bentham, 

All the buildings here described are in the Parish of Portsmouth. 



21 

The sum paid by the Navy Board to the Victualling Commissi- 
oners in 1830 was ; for the long Quay Store, (now the Marine Bar- 
racks) £13,200; for buildings adjoining (now the Marine Infir- 
mary,) £3,100. 

In the Gun-wharf are deposited (on the wharfs) the cannon of 
the ships of war, new and old ; and between the various stores, 
pyramidal piles of shot of all dimensions ; mortars of gigantic size, 
and all the various implements of war. There are also working 
armories, smiths' shops, a small guard-house, &c. The bounda- 
ry-wall extends from a short distance behind King George's-gate, 
along the Portsea road to the King's-mill. It was built in 1803, and 
in it are two fine gates ; on the piers of one of which are two 
stone mortars. Before the erection of this wall, this enclosure 
was by palisades, and a low stone wall of great thickness, bound- 
ing the sea, through which was the sluice for filling the moats of 
Portsmouth with water ; it is now enclosed by a door in the wall, 
between which and the Custom House is a passage and staircase 
leading to a landing-place. 



CIVIL HISTORY. 



MERCANTILE, LITERARY, PAROCHIAL BUILDINGS 
AND ESTABLISHMENTS. 

On the road leading to Portsea, in the Parish of Portsmouth, 
on the Mill-bastion, which is an outwork of the fortification, is si- 
tuate the King's Mill. Previous to the year 1744, there existed 
on this spot a mill of small size, but on the 11th of July, in that 
year, the old mill was taken down, removed, and His Majesty's 
New Mill commenced by Mr. John Shepherd, who laid the foun- 
dations, altered and contrived the water-courses, and raised the 
arches to a level with the roadway ; a Mr. Spriggs performing all 
the masonry and bridges now leading to Portsea : and on Novem- 
ber 21, 1745, Mr. Shepherd built and finished the mill, Mr. Tho- 
mas Read performing all the carpentry, and Mr. Robert Barlow, 
an eminent millwright, supplying the mill-stones for 360/. and the 
necessary mechanism for 421/. In 1756, June 21st, the mill not 
being capacious enough, Mr. Barlow erected a new pair of flood- 



22 

gates and a great variety of machinery ; and in November, formed 
a new Tail Mill, which he finished in ten weeks. The difference 
of the two mills can be readily traced on the exterior. The mas- 
ter-miller's house was built in 1779 : the expense of the whole es- 
tablishment being above seven thousand pounds. 

The building is about a quarter of a mile from the Quay, or 
King George's-gate, and, being too ponderous for the soil, is erect- 
ed on piles thirty feet long, and shoed with iron. As a means of 
working it, a sufBcient quantity of water is admitted into the dam, 
or mill-pond; at high water the flood-gates are closed, and when 
the tide has ebbed a little, the water is worked back again into the 
harbour by a channel, (of sufficient depth to allow vessels of large 
tonnage to reach the building and discharge their cargoes,) which 
passes through the new Gun-wharf. At this mill the grain used 
at the Victualling-office was ground, and, being within the fortifi- 
cations, could supply the town in case of siege. The average 
quantity of wheat manufactured here during the late war was 
three hundred quarters weekly, and during the peace it not only 
supplied all the flour and biscuit-meal required for this port, but 
considerable quantities for the department at Deptford. This 
Building is now the property of the Board of Ordnance and let. 

The Mill was exchanged in 1833 for other property, with the 
Ordnance board, being valued at £4,000. 

THE MILL-DAM OR POND. 

A branch of the harbour forms the mill-dam, being connected 
with it by the passage under the King's Mill, and before the finish- 
ing of the Portsmouth Fortification communicated with the Har- 
bour, or rather formed an integral part of it. This pond or sheet 
of water forms the division between Portsmouth and Portsea, is 
part of its defence, and joins the moats of Portsmouth by a new 
cut, made in 1819-20. It was anciently, however, much larger 
than at present, extending to Lake-lane, and behind the residence 
of the Commandant of Engineers ; also to Queen-street in ano- 
ther direction, and over various parts of St. George's-square, ren- 
dering these parts a kind of swamp. The ordnance have at diffe- 
rent periods taken large portions from it for new work, more es- 
pecially behind the new Ordnance-offices on the Parade. Its 
shape was also materially altered by the new Fortifications of 
Portsea. 



23 

THE CUSTOM HOUSE. 

On the external side of George's-gate on the quay, on ground 
rented of the Corporation, a series of wooden stores were erected 
in 1811, and the quay greatly enlarged and improved, by the Ord- 
nance department ; these were given over to the Victualling-board 
on payment of costs, and in 1830 converted into a new Custom- 
house, on the removal of the Victualling department to Woevil. 
The old Custom-house was at the lower end of Broad-street, Forts- 
mouth, where stood originally a public-house, called the Three 
Gims, or Ordnance Arms ; afterwards an ordnance store, and then 
converted into the Custom-house ; subsequent, however, to the 
original establishment of the denomination, which stood opposite 
the ancient Quay-gate in Oyster-street — a low stone-fronted house, 
with small, deep-set windows (now demolished.) The one in 
Broad-street was erected, in 1785, it was a large, dark brick build- 
ing, containing all the requisite offices and stores, having in the 
rear communication with the camber, or lake. 

In 1783-4, the following notable example of political economy 
deserves record. It was in contemplation to erect the Custom- 
house on the site where now stand Mr. Lindegren's wharfs, &c. ; 
a place the best suited in the whole port for such an important 
establishment, as not a boat or vessel could leave the Harbour 
without being seen; a difference of 200/. prevented the plan from 
being carried into execution, and the officers in the late situation 
had not even a glimpse of the ocean. 

In Bath-square is the Custom-house watch-house, in which the 
boats of the revenue-officers are kept, and watch day and night ; 
no vessel enters the port without being hailed, and proper inqui- 
ries made respecting her. 

1827— 'There entered this port, in this year, 11,247 tons of Bri- 
tish ships ; 6856 tons Foreign. 

The business transacted here is very great, being principally im- 
port, reaching within these few years 93,000/ per annum : and six 
thousand sufferances being issued for coastways trade ! Item, 
15,264,000 eggs imported from France in one year, paying a duty 
of 5300/. 

Portsmouth is a member port to the mother port of Southamp- 
ton. 1798, imports, 79,000/.; coast duties, 15,500/.; exports, 
2000/.— A. D. 1272, Duties on Wine at Southampton and Ports- 
mouth, 13/. 2s. 3d. A.D. 1798, 22,000/.— A.D. 1815, 137,012/. at 
Portsmouth only ! What is termed the Port of Portsmouth extends 



24 

from Hill-head, near the opening of the Southampton water on 
the west, to the town of Erasworth on the East ; having within 
its precincts Langstone and Portsmouth havens, Spithead, the 
Mother-bank, Stokes-bay, St. Helen's harbour, and part of the 
Solent Sea. 

The establishment of the Customs consists of a collector, clerks, 
to ditto, comptroller, clerk to ditto, surveyor, and comptrolling 
surveyor of warehouses, landing surveyor, searcher, landing waiters, 
and comptrolling searcher ; jerquer, messenger, warehouse-keeper 
for bonded goods, coastwaiters for Portsmouth, Gosport, Fare- 
ham, and Cosham ; tide surveyors, supervisor of riding officers, 
riding officers, inspecting commander of preventive boats within 
the port, surveyor's clerk, assistant warehouse-keeper for seized 
goods, superintendant of quarantine, commanders and mates of 
cutter. Nine weighers, lockers, and watchmen ; and twenty-eight 
tide-waiters. The preventive stations are at Southsea Castle, 
Cumberland Fort, and Hayling Island ; and on the Gosport side, 
at Stoke's Bay and Hill-head. 

The sum paid to the Victualling-board by the Customs in July, 
1828, for the Quay Store and Wharf, was £8,500; Since then 
the centre part of the building has been rebuilt and altered at no 
very inconsiderable expense ; the principal object contemplated 
by the removal was the prevention of smuggling. This end was 
accomplished by fixing the Customs Establishment immediately 
contiguous to the Town Quay. The Property in Broad-street ma- 
terially suffers by this arrangement. 

THE CAMBEK, OB MEBCANTILE HABBOtFR 

lies environed on every side by buildings — being thus bounded ; 
by the marine barracks, the infirmary, the custom-house-quay, the 
town quay, the town walls, military hospital, the walls to King 
James's Gate, the houses in Broad and East-streets, the Baltic 
wharfs, the stores in East-street, the old custom-house (now the 
American office) the transport stores and Lindegren's wharf, form- 
ing within this irregular space a basin for the reception of mer- 
chant vessels and the coasting craft ; in many parts it is surrounded 
by wharves, and it was formerly of much greater size, but by the 
extension of the Naval Gun- wharf in 1797, and the new custom- 
house-quay, it has suffered some diminution ; the town quay com- 
municates with Portsmouth by the Quay Gates, and with Portsea 
by a road passing along the edge of the Moat, by the King's Mill 
and Gun- wharfs. The residence of the wharfinger is on the town 



25 

qiray, where the tollage due to the Corporation is collected* ; and 
before the erection of the present house, the wharfinger's residence 
presented a curious appearance, being almost covered with pigeon- 
laouses. 

THE OLD PORTSMOUTH VICTUALLING OFFICE., 

in the reign of Elizabeth, was known as the Queene's Greate and 
Little Cooperadge, The buildings forming one side of St. Mary- 
street were erected in 1724, (the date being on many parts of the 
stores,) and comprehended at that time nearly the whole of the 
establishment, Mown by the names of the New and Old-end, and 
Mill-stores, the old Loft and Butter-house, the Coopers' shops, 
and a large Slaughter-house, with pickle and beef sheds, and a 
space called the Hog-yard, with outhouses. The Agent's house 
in St. Thomas's-street was probably erected at the same time. 

* 'February 4, 1710. The Commons represent the neglect of the 
Commissioners for victualling her Majesties Navy, in suffering the 
brewers to defraud the public in several instances, it seeming that 
the captains and pursers of the shippes agreed to take so much 
short of the proper allowance ; the brewers allowing the captains 
and pursers a sum of money, and put the rest in their pockets, 
taking receipt for the whole • and that this practice had been for 
years connived at by the late Ministry." Certain fraudulent prac- 
tices of Thomas Ridge, M. P.^ and Messrs, Rolfe, Best, Tylhurst 
and Kelly, brewers, of Portsmouth, discovered and exposed. 

In King-street was the Naval Bakehouse, where was manufac- 
tured the biscuit for the shipping ; there were six ovens, which, if 
necessary, could afford twenty-four suits per diem, each suit con- 
sisting of one hundred-pounds, and the whole producing seven 
hundred and thirty-four bags weighing 1 1 21b, Several of the ovens- 
were worked with coal instead of wood. "In 1774, the King 
went to see the Navy Bakehouse, and according to form, was pre- 
sented with a biscuit, which he ate as walking through the streets 
■conversing with his court-attendants, from example, it became the 
fashion to walk the streets eating biscuits." 



* The emoluments of the Wharfinger are 10 per cent ; the per centage aver- 
ages about 100/. a year, and he has a house to live in. In addition to the per cen- 
tage, he had a gratuity of 10/. from the Corporation : but for which he employed 
a person to collect small tolls. 

RECEIPTS IN THE YEARS 

1791. 1792. 1793. 1830. 1831. 1832, 
££££££ 
Wharfage 167 160 178 840 1190 H60 



26 

Oil the opposite sicle of King-street are the long stores ; in 1787 
the buildings on this site were in a very dilapidated state, not so 
lofty as the present ones, and being of stone, with portals of the 
same, had become black and ruinous, having much the appearance 
of ancient ordnance-offices. Behind the houses in Crown-street, 
portions of the ancient walls remain, the Admiralty having allowed 
Mr. Wyatt, the architect, to make use of the old materials in the 
new constructions. They extend the whole length of the street,, 
are double and of great height. These stores were in 1830 bought 
by Messrs. Burrell and Fitchet of Fareham for £6457. 

A century ago, the whole of this establishment comprehended 
forty persons, including the officers. 

In 1776, a new Slaughter-house was erected in St. Mary-street, 
and the buildings repaired and improved ; and in 1781-2, a new 
store built, and the Agent's office much improved. In the Agent's 
walk was a very large Egyptian statue of black porphyry, now in 
the British Museum, and in the office? a painting, said to represent 
the original Farm-house at Haslar, where now stands the Hospi- 
tal ; in the Storekeeper's office was another large picture, and in 
the Agent's house a painted ceiling ; these were all taken from the 
original Manor-house at Weovil, and have been again removed 
to the new Victualling office. 

In 1827 Major-general Stapylton made an official visit for the 
removal of the entire of the Victualling establishment to Weovil, 
where the brewery department has always been carried on. By 
consolidating the duties, the services of fewer persons, as clerks, 
masters of trades, artificers, and labourers, are required, and a 
material annual saving thereby effected, The Agent Victualler's 
office was abolished, (Feb. 1828,) and its business consolidated 
with that of the resident Commissioner at Haslar. And shortly 
after the whole of the Stores were removed and the property sold 
by auction, principally to J. Hulbert Esq., Mr. Bramble, the Philo- 
sophical Society, and Messrs Burrell of Fareham ; the Agent's house 
and Stores sold for £6457, the Bakehouse £2075. 

BANKING IN PORTSMOUTH. 

The first banking establishment in the town, was held at the 
large house, No. 96 in the High-street, being the residence of Messrs, 
Drew, Chaldecott, and Co. The white house at the corner of the 
Parade, built on the site of a low gable fronted bookseller's shop, 
kept by Carr, by Peter Tayler Esq., the original commissary in 
Foote's farce of that name, has been, and still is used as a banking 



27 

house. This was the locale of Godwin's bank, through all its 
changes of partnership till its final dissolution in 1818, it became 
then the property of Messrs. Grant, whose bank is there held still. 
These gentlemen have a branch bank at Portsea. Near the New 
Market, is the banking house of Burbey and Co. originally, Grant 
and Burbeys, and nearly opposite Hector Maclorg and Jackson's 
firm. During the war, there was a bank in Broad-street (Messrs, 
Burridges.) Messrs. Atkins have for many years and do at present 
officiate in these money transactions to a great extent. 

A branch Bank of the Bank of England was established (nearly 
opposite the George Inn) in Feb. 1834. It has been since removed 
to the site of the house three doors above the George, one of the 
most ancient in the town, and formerly of great extent, being divi- 
ded into four large houses. In one of the rooms was an ornamental 
ceiling, in which the English arms appeared, viz. the arms of the 
House of Stuart, surrounded by the Garter ; and in the angles of 
the compartments, 1st, a lion rampant ; 2nd, a griffin ; 3rd, a small 
lion ; 4th, a fleur de lis. These are repeated four times, varying 
in size. During some repairs and again on the demolition of the 
centre portion which projected into the street, coins of the reign 
of Elizabeth were dug up. 

PUBLIC CONVEYANCES, COACHES, &c. 

In the year 1770, Coachmen between Portsmouth and London, 
were very boisterous drunken personages, with Bardolph visages, 
and conversation full of rude oaths ; Guards carried huge blun- 
derbusses loaded with triple bullets, for fear of highwaymen in the 
forest of Bere ; the road at Cosham, was deep and narrow; Lon- 
don was seventy-three miles distant, and people made their wills 
before they encountered the perils of the way. The Boyal Mail 
was despatched by express daily at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
and arrived at six next morning. At length the spirit of improve- 
ment dawned, and Clarke's flying machine (in one day) set out from 
the King's Arms Inn, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night 
at ten o'clock, returning on the alternate nights, while their other 
machine continued to rumble forth from the Blue Post Inn every 
Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights, and returned every other 
night The Western and Eastern Mails came in three times only 
in the week. 

During the first American War, a great increase of public con- 
veyances took place, and the road was very much improved. The 
coaches, however, as late as 1805-10, departed at five in the 



2S 

morning, and came in late at night. Now there are coaches 
driven by the proprietors, many of them men of education and 
property, horsed with cuttle of the finest kind, departing, and re- 
turning from all parts of the kingdom, from the several inns in 
Portsmouth at almost eYery hour in the day ; while the Mail leave* 
at half-past nine at night, and arrives at five in the morning. About 
1830 the first fly-carriage was started; now there are abundance 
at several of the livery stables and inns, which have entirely sur- 
passed the old fashioned shattery dans (as they were denominated) 
or sociable omnibusses, donkey carts and other halfway-house 
vehicles. Short stages to the neighbouring towns are also estab- 
lishing. Most of the public coaches start from Portsmouth,, and 
pass through Portsea and Landport. 

In olden time, two days were spent, 
Twixt Portsmouth and the Monument j 
When Flying Diligences plied, 
When men in Roundabouts would ride,. 
And, at the surly driver's will, 
Get out and climb each tedious hill. 
But since the rapid Freeling's age 
How much improved the English Stage! 
Now in eight hours with ease, the post 
Reaches from Newgate Street our coast. 

THE POST-OFFICE 

h in Green-row ; Letters for the London Mail must be put 112 
l>efore nine o'clock in the Evening : those received by the same- 
conveyance are delivered at Nine in the Morning : — no bags are 
sent Saturday Evening, nor any received on Monday Morning.— 
There is also a Mail every day to Bristol, which conveys letters to 
all the Western Counties : the bags are closed at Six in the Even- 
ing — delivery at Nine in the Morning : Letters for the Isle of 
Wight are sent by Steam conveyance. For public convenience 
there is a Post-Office in Portsea. Of conveyances by water, in 
lieu of the Plymouth hoy, Captain Clarke's Sloop, the Isle of 
Wight hoy, and the Southampton Vessels of which the following 
advertisement from a very old Newspaper gives a tolerable idea: 

" John Weeks, Master of the Duke of Gl'ou&ter Sloop, takes this method to' 
thank his friends and the public for their past favors in the Southampton and 
Portsmouth passage trade, and hopes for a continuance of the same, as they may 
depend on his eare, and the time of sailing more regular than for many years 
past. He sails from Southampton every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 
and returns every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, wind and weather per- 
mitting, 

N. B. For the public's further dependence, he has two Vessels in the Em- 
ploy, 

*** To be spoke with at Mr, Cheetham's at the Royal George', Southamp- 
ton, and ttie White Hart, on the Poiut, Portsmouth. 



29 

We have now Steam Vessels to all parts of the Coast ; varying 
however in their period of departure, according to the season of 
the year. 

1825 — April 5. The Union Steam Packet first started between 
this Port and Hyde. To celebrate the day, two hogsheads of beer 
were given to the watermen and others at Ryde Pier, and a like 
quantity at the Quebec Hotel, Portsmouth. At this period, plans 
were suggested for a Ship Canal from hence to London, at an esti- 
mated expense of 4,000,000/. 

THE PUBLIC PRESS. 

The earliest newspaper printed seems to have been the Ports- 
mouth and Gosport Gazette, commenced about June the 1st, 1747, 
and printed at the office facing the platform, by G. Jones from 
London. The Portsmouth Mercury a later publication was prin- 
ted at Southampton, and the Salisbury Gazette appears to have 
circulated in the town. About 1790, Donaldson's Portsmouth 
Gazette was established on high antigallican principles and it is 
now very curious to turn over the files of the paper, and trace the 
origin and rise of many important circumstances connected with 
the place. This paper was printed opposite the Parade in Bat- 
tery-row, at Mowbray's office, who in later years had some share 
in its editorship : the office being destroyed by fire the paper 
afterwards languished, and was succeeded by Mottley's Hampshire 
Telegraph. The Courier was established about 1807, and con- 
tinued for a few years, and in 1830, the Herald edited by Henry 
Deacon, Esq. was started, but did not long continue. 

Harrison's Hampshire Telegraph is now the only paper published 
in the town ; although those of the neighbouring cities and towns, 
circulate according to the political bias of readers. 

MUNICIPAL WARD. 

Rate Amt. of 

Payers Rating 

St. Thomas" s Ward, or Portsmouth — (nine} 
Councillors) — All the town within its ramparts, f , ,aq £16 800 
including the New Gunwharf and all the Water £ ' 
Boundaries, with Horsey Island ,.....»; 

TAVERNS, HOTELS, &c. 

May 1, 1661. "Set forth again from Petersfield, and so to 
Portsmouth ; a very pleasant and strong place : and we lay at the 
Redd Lyon, where Hasilrigge and Scott and Walton did hold their 
council when they were here against Lambert and the Committee 



30 

of Safety." The inn here spoken of by Mr. Pepys, was on the 
site of the house No. 91, in the High-street. It was demolished 
in 1800 by Mr. Way, the licence being removed to the present 
inn behind. In front, towards the High-street, was a large win- 
dow, supported by a porch and pillars, projecting into the street. 
The long range of buildings forming one side of Church-lane 
(on the walls of which may still be seen the date, two hundred 
years since) formed the stables of the ancient inn. 

The George Inn was originally a thatched house, of small size, 
called the Waggon and Lamb, having in front a stone trough for 
water ; on the right and left were low gavel-fronted houses, sunk 
below the level of the street, with wooden rails in front, and old- 
projecting windows. June, 1800. These have given place to the 
present commodious Hotel.. The Fountain is another Hotel, in 
the High-street, and in Broad-street, are the Blue-posts, the Star 
and Garter, and the Quebec Taverns. The Crown Hotel, known 
during the American and Napoleon wars as the Naval House, is 
now fast going to decay and ruin, proving that not even the Crown 
itself can withstand the ravages of a chancery suit. 

The Parade Coffee-house and Hotel, at the corner of the Parade, 
was formerly the house of the Captains of the Navy, and in the 
"olden time," before Lieutenants wore epaulets, and Captains 
wore red breeches, three-cornered hats, buckles and pigtails, it was 
not uncommon to see Captains of the Royal Navy sitting outside 
this house on forms, smoking long pipes. 

The Three Tuns public house is also ancient ; it is remarkable 
as being the place in which the delegates met during the mutiny, 
and kept Lord Howe and attendants waiting on the staircase while 
they deliberated on his proposals. The Globe is in Oyster-street. 

In some of the streets, public houses abound. These, in the 
war time, were principally used by the sailors and marines ; on 
the Point, the business done was almost incredible, and the scenes 
realized the following description :.— 

*' Let us to Comus' Court repair." 

Hail ! place of noise, distraction, fun ! 

Hail, " Point" of wide spread fame ! 
To every nation fully known, 

Which knows the English name ! 
Here oft in midnight revelry, 

The violin and song, 
Conjoined with mirth and jollity, 

Exhilirate the throng. 
Here taverns numberless indeed 

In long succession rise ; 
And the gay shops of Israel's seed 

Entice the seamen's eyes. 



31 

Since the peace, the taverns certainly remain, but the noise, trafic, 
and consequent profits, have entirely disappeared. There are 109 
public houses in the town, fifty being on the Point. 

PAVEMENT. 
Portsmouth was paved by an act of parliament passed in 1763: 
the work was completed in 1773, at an expense of 8886/. 8s. Sub- 
sequent acts invest the Commissioners with power to light and 
watch the town. The town is better paved than any in Hamp- 
shire. The Commissioners are self-elected. Three three-penny 
rates are raised in the year, two for paving and cleaning, and one 
for watching. The Corporation formerly were not assessed ; lat- 
terly they have been, and now pay 9/. a-year. The amount col- 
lected for paving and lighting the town is about 900/. annually. 

PUBLIC OFFICES. 

The Excise Office, the Office for the King's Taxes, and the 
magistrates both for the borough and county are in St. Thomas's- 
street ; the Town Clerk's office, and that for Registration according 
to act of Parliament, are in the High-street. 

The large breweries belong to Messrs. Pike and Co., Deacon, 
Garrett, and Knott, and these parties are the proprietors of many 
of the public houses ; there are also several small breweries in the 
town. 

FREE MART OR SAINT PETER'S FAIR. 

St. Peter's Day was formerly a holiday of local importance, and 
is still memorable from the historical association connected with 
it. Fairs were originally instituted for the necessary pur- 
poses of commerce, and were kept, in some instances, for several 
weeks to afford the oportunity of their being attended by foreigners, 
The Fair of Portsmouth was anciently of considerable consequence 
to the town as a mart for the sale of woollen cloths ; and was 
much resorted to by the French, from Normandy, and also by the 
Dutch. The fair was established in the reign of Richard the First, 
to commence on the feast of St. Peter ad vincula, and to continue 
15 days. One of the last public acts of the Lion-hearted Prince, 
previously to embarking at Portsmouth, in 1194, on his fatal ex- 
pedition against Philip of France, was, the granting the charter 
which appointed this fair. 

Richard, by the Grace of God, King of England, &c. &c. to the Arch- 
Bishops, &c. &c. and all the loving subjects of all our territory, Greeting — 
Know, that we retain in our hand our Borough of Portesmuth, with all that 
thereunto appertain eth, and in it we establish, give, and grant, a Fair, to endure 
once in every year, for fifteen days, (to wit) from the Feast of St. Peter, We 



32 

also grant, that all our loving subjects of England, &c. and of all our territories 
and of others, may come to the aforesaid Fair, and may go and return well 
and in peace, and may have all the free customs and liberties which they have 
at the Fairs of Winton and Hoyland, or any where else in our territories. 

According to the usage of the Church of that period, and for 
more than three centuries afterwards, the feast of St. Peter ad vin- 
culo, was held on the 1st. of August : but the 29th June was also 
a feast day of the same Saint ; and in these circumstances, when 
the Church came to be reformed by Edward the Sixth, the Feast 
of St. Peter on the 1st, or the Gule of August, being of supersti- 
tious origin, was abolished, and the 29th June became the only 
feast of the Apostlejrecognized by law. Charles the First, in con- 
firming the fair, which, according to the charter from him, was to 
begin on St .Peter ad vinculo, necessarily referred to the feast esta- 
blished by the Legislature, and he at the same time prohibited the 
fair which had been accustomed to be held on the 1st August. 
The long reign of Elizabeth, followed by that of James, had not 
been sufficient to annul the ancient usage ; but in conformity with 
the Reformed Church and the charter of Charles, the observance 
of St. Peter's Day on the 29ch June at length prevailed, and the 
fair was held accordingly, until the adoption of the Gregorian 
Calendar, in 1752. By the Act which then passed for correcting 
the errors of the Julian Calendar, all feasts and fasts were to be 
observed according to the new calendar ; but, to prevent the in- 
conveniences which would have arisen from the change, fairs were 
to be kept according to the old style, or upon the same natural 
days upon which they would have been kept in case the calendar 
had not been altered, that is to say eleven days later than they 
would have happened according to the new style. The feast of 
St. Peter and the Free Mart were thus separated, the one from 
the other, by the space of so many days ; or in other words, although 
the feast was advanced by anticipating time eleven nominal days, 
the fair was not to be kept until the actual day on which the feast 
would have fallen, supposing the calendar not to have been cor- 
rected. 

The following advertisement will explain the changes which 
took place : 

THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE, 

That (by Virtue of the Act of Parliament for regulating the commencement 
of the Year, and for correcting of, the Calendar) the Fair on Portsdown, which 
hath hitherto been held on the 15th, 16th and 17th Days of July, Old-Style, 
will, this year, and every year for the future, be held and kept on the 26th, 
27th and 28th days of July, according to the New-Style. 

1753. A. HUMPHREYS, Steward. 

The stallage is is. per foot. The fair was (in Elizabeth's reign) of importance, and gave 
encouragement to Foreign merchants. The stands now contain nothing but dolls and gin- 
gerbread. The revenue from the fair for six years was, £40—£33—£ii—£55-£Q0—£57> 



Pree mart begins on the 10th of July, and continues fourteen 
days, to the great annoyance of every peaceable-disposed person. 

1803, July 26„ A thousand pound weight of bread bestowed 
<on the French prisoners at Porchester castle, by a benevolent per- 
•son of the name of Deaken, known by the title of " the man with 
the black beard," who visited the fair selling Tunbridge ware. 
Portsmouth. The cour de pied poudre, vulgo pie powder •, has been 
discontinued many years, A large open hand, bearing the crest of 
the borough (expressive of the welcome and good fellowship 
strangers were and still are to receive), is annually suspended 
from the Town-hall. In the time of the late war, the fair extend- 
ed from King JamesVgate to the Lieutenant Governor's house in 
St. Thomas's-street ; and during the American war it consisted 
of merely a few stalls on each side the High-street, 

THE OLD MARKET HOUSE* 

Leland, in his Itinerary, says : "One Carpenter, a riche man, 
made of late tyme, in the mydle of the High-streete of the 
toun, a Toun-house." What the particular shape or form of this 
♦edifice was, we have been unable to discover ; but in 1736, a second 
building was erected under the auspices of Mr. Vining, then mayor 
of this borough, who deposited under the northern corner pier, a 
metallic plate, &c. The edifice consisted of a market-place, with 
arches on the sides and end, a noble hall of fine proportions, with 
a vaulted ornamental ceiling, fourteen feet high ; and at the wes- 
tern end, the Record-room, and above, several small rooms and 
stores. The Hall was lighted by a large Venetian window at the 
end, and five on either side. Above the large entrance was placed 
an emblazonment of the armorial crest of the Borough, with the 
date and Mr. Vinmg's name. Above the roof was a small cupola 
and dome, (in which hung a bell,) taken down in 1826. This 
cupola was quite in unison, and there was much taste and 
architectural knowledge displayed in the building. It was en~ 

* The market tolls. — Green-stalls in the market pay 6d.each on the market days ; 
sfish stalls 4d. ; poultry stalls, 6d. ; the persons who stand in the street on market 
days with fruit, pay Id.; and those who stand behind the market pay lid. In 
1829 these toMs collected amounted to 381. 18s. lOd. The butchers in the market 
pay 6d, each market day ; a butcher's cart in the street, if he does not keep a 
shop, 6d. each j ^nd a barrow, 3d, The butcher's stalls amounted to 41/. 12s, (id, 

RECEIPTS IN THE YEARS 

1791. 1792. 1793. 1830. 1831. 1832. 
£ £ £ £ £ £ 

Market Standings, .58 70 67 41 40 35 

Market Tolls, 29 25 26 90 93 96 

The Sergeant collects the butcher's fees, for which he gets a per centage aaHS««l- 
$ng to about §1, in the year. — Corporation Iteport. 



34 

larged and improved in 1796, in the mayoralty of John Godwin 1 , 
Esq. by the erection of a council-chamber, supported by eight 
Corinthian pillars, forming a portico. Previous to the erection 
of the last-mentioned room, the ascent to the Hall was by a flight 
of twelve stone steps, with two smaller ones on each side the cage. 
The Corinthian pillars formed a small portico on a kind of plat- 
form, round which extended an iron rail, while the steps were 
terminated by a broad stone parapet, with iron lamp-posts. 

From the northern extremity projected a long range of wooden 
shambles, with a roof supported by wooden pillars and covered 
with slate, the rendezvous and receptacle after nightfall of every 
species of vicious company. — April 3, 1827. The magistrates 
determined that these shambles should be finally removed on Fri- 
day the 27th. 

The late General Fisher offered, at the time of the Imperial 
visit, to remove the edifice, and new pave the road-way to corres- 
pond with the other parts of the street, in the short space of one 
single night, so great an obstruction was it considered. 

NEW MABKET HOUSE, HALL AND POLICE 
STATIONS. 

1836. February 9. On a motion of Mr. William Lang, in the 
Court of Council, a Committee was appointed to consider of the 
best means of removing the old market-house and erecting a new 
one. A few days after, a public meeting of the inhabitants was 
held, at which it was unanimously declared that the old building 
was a nuisance ; a site was offered by the Carter family, and by the 
exertion of Mr. Lang, between ten and eleven hundred pounds were 
raised by subscription. May 12, the council agree to advance two 
thousand five hundred pounds in addition to the private subscrip- 
tions, for the new market-house, the site and buildings ordered 
to be purchased, plans and elevations designed by Mr. Bramble 
accepted by the Council, and the contract for the building taken 
by Messrs. Voller, Wells and Chalkley, at a sum of 2,460/. allow- 
ing 260/. for the old market-house ; and on September the fifth, 
the High-street presented a clear roadway, for the first time since 
the reign of Henry viij. Among the subscribers were J. Bonham 
Carter, Esq. 400/.; Edward Carter, Esq. 120/.; F. Baring, Esq. 
100/.; Admiral Durham, 100/.; W. Grant, Esq. 75/.; J. Macart- 
ney, Esq. 25/. The site was occupied by a public house, (the 
White Horse,) two other tenements, part of a store belonging to 
Mr. Burbey, two old houses in Pembroke-street, the property of 
Mr. Thorpe, and a portion of the Dolphin yard. 



35 

THE PRINCESS VICTORIA'S BIRTH-BAY, 1837. 

It having been decided by the Town Council, that the laying 
of the foundation stone of the intended Market-house, by the 
Mayor, should form one of the features of the day, soon after 
two o'clock, a procession for that purpose was formed at the Ses- 
sions' House, composed of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Council- 
lors, the County and Borough Magistrates, the Vicar, Sir Philip 
Durham, G.C.B. Sir Frederick Maitland, the Staff of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, Colonel Forbes, and other Naval and Military 
Officers, who attended by special invitation; a large number of 
the Burgesses also joined in the procession, the bands of the Royal 
Marines and of the Commander-in-Chief preceding. The pro- 
cession passed down High-street, the streets and windows being 
troweled with spectators. On its arrival at the site of the intended 
building, and after the necessary preparations had been made, 
bis worship went through the ceremony of laying the stone, after 
which three hearty cheers were given for the Princess Victoria, 
the band playing the National air. The procession was most 
deficient in effect, viz., the Mayor being the only member of the 
Corporation robed. The Mace and officers were in attendance, 
and the flag of the Corporation was also displayed, but the Alder- 
men and Councilmen did not assume their gowns ; their plain 
dress contrasted so widely with the rich uniform and splendid deco- 
rations worn by the Commander-in-Chief, and the other Naval and 
Military officers who attended, and who in compliment appeared 
in full costume, that, with the exception of the Mayor, the whole 
Council were thrown into shade, not one could be distinguished, 
while many a joke on the republican display was heard on all sides.* 



* That this public and most rude behaviour to the parties invited was not 
unanimously adopted, is proved fsom the following extract : — 

Town Council Meeting, May 21, 1837. 
The Mayor. — " Every arrangement has been made, and the heads of the 
•public departments invited. Mr. Hilton. — The Burgesses should be invited. 
Mr. Carter would move that the Mayor and Council attend. Mr. Atkins — the 
Council ought not to be compelled to attend. Mr Carter — That the Mayor 
attend in his gown. There was a bye-law for the Mayor to have a gown — one 
of the laws not repealed. Mr. Jones. — That the Mayor and Aldermen attend 
in their red gowns, and the Council in gowns, similar to those worn by the 
old Burgesses.'" Mr. Williams — The naval and military have their costume, 
the Judges of the land also, the Council as the representatives of the borough 
should not be without some peculiar mark of distinction. I am aware it will be 
the subject of ridicule, but the wisest and best of things have been ridiculed. If 
the King were to visit Portsmouth, how should they as a Council appear? It 
would not seem respectful to present themselves in a simple garb. If it be a 
concentration of dignity for the Mayor to appear robed, there can be no dire- 



m 

That portion of the new market-house which is situate in Femf- 
broke-street, is the station for the civic watch, and near the quay,. 
in Oyster-street, is a small prison or cage for the confinement of 
disorderly people ; considering 'the population,, it is very little used.. 

THE NEW GAOL OF THE BOROUGH r 

situate m Fenny-street, was commenced in 1805, and completed in: 
1809, at an expense of eighteen thousand poumdsy and is a fabric* 
which does honour to the borough. It was begun in the may oralty 
of William Goldson, Esq. in pursuance of a presentment by the* 
grand-jury on the inadequacy of the old building, where prison- 
ers of every description formed one promiscuous throng, and, at 
each quarter-sessions, those for trial were led in fetters through 
the public market to the court. Here, however, prisoners are 
properly classed, and male and female kept separate,, with good 
discipline,, united with humanity. Over the gaol are the apart- 
ments for the dispatch of the business of the borough: a sessions'- 
room, of noble proportions, well lighted,, and furnished with every 
eonvenience. By means of a smair staircase,, the prisoners are 
brought up from their cells into the body of the court,, by which 
the noise and disturbance common on such occasions, is com- 
pletely avoided. There is likewise a large Council-chamber, and 
offices for the town-clerk, &c. In the Council-chamber i& a large 
engraving of Portsmouth in the reign of Henry the Eighth, from 
a painting by Holbein : also a portrait of Adam Carter, Esq. in hi* 
robes of offiee, painted by the late Rev. George Cuthbert. There 
is also an ancient table, with carvings hi wood, and in the record- 
chamber is preserved 

THE ANCIENT CORPORATION PLATE, 

viz., a standing covered cup of silver gilt, given, in 1580, by Sir 
Robert Lee, Kt., formerly Lord Mayor of London — a great goblet 
of silver gilt, and three silver spoons, given by Mrs. Elizabeth Bod- 

Motion of dignity in others wearing the gowns also. Mr. Bilton. — I- shall be- 
better pleased if they attend without costume. This is not the time to urge- 
on the Council the adoption of a costume, for as the office is not for life, it Avill 
be hard on individuals to be put to the expense of it; I trust that ere long, 
those distinctions will cease to be regarded as proof of the personal dignity 
of the wearer. Mr Burbey — Half the Council will be excluded. Mr. Jones 
• — There will be no difficulty in obtaining gowns. Those gentlemen who have 
the honour of a seat on the Aldermen's bench will surely not mind the expense 
of obtaining gowns.. Mr. Chamberlain. — Gowns should be provided at the 
public expense. Mr. Carter. — There will be great difficulty in obtaining IS 
gowns, Mr, Jones. — They may be obtained in 36 hours, Amendment lost 
'shy 11 to 15. 



kin — one small silver goblet, and three silver spoons, given, in 
1594, by Mr. Joshua Saviour, formerly master-gunner of the gar- 
rison — a standing covered silver gilt cup, given by Messrs. John 
Watts, William Bryan, and John Riddlesden — a great silver stand- 
ing cup with cover, given by Sir Benjamin Berry, Kt., governor 
of the town — a silver cup and cover, given, in 1609, by Mr. Thomas 
Bonner — three silver wine bowls, given by Mr. William Haberly — 
a silver basin and ewer, given by John Herman, Esq. — a double- 
gilt salt-cellar with cover, given by Mr. James Morray — a silver 
salt-cellar, given by Mr. Edward Silvester — a great silver bowl, 
given, in 1629, by Mrs. Elizabeth Kidge — a silver tankard, given, 
in 1679, by Thomas Hancock, alderman — a great silver flagon, 
given, in 1682, by Capt. Thomas Allen — two great silver gilt flag- 
ons, given, in 1683, by the Most Noble Louisa, Duchess of Ports- 
mouth — one large silver gilt mace, (to be borne before the mayor), 
given by Sir Josiah Child, Kt. — two small silver maces. Hie mace 
is still used on all public occasions, and the plate was anciently dis- 
played on the mayor's table at the corporation dinners ; the coun- 
cil having had the common sense not to dispose of what must ever 
be considered a municipal heir-loom, it will probably still continue 
to grace the festivals of the civil magistrate. 

In the gaol are held four sessions of the peace yearly: a court 
of record every Tuesday, in which any person may sue for a 
debt not under forty shillings. At the sessions, petty larcenies 
and small crimes are tried, but nothing capital can be determined 
here. The chandeliers in the sessions-room were formerly in the 
old Town-hall ; and the bell in the cupola above the ante-room is 
very ancient. On this cupola is placed, as a vane, the arms of 
the Corporation ; and above the principal front is a flag-staff, on 
which is displayed, at particular times, the Corporation flag. 

This building will shortly be much enlarged, by the erection 
of a chapel, additional yards, &c. for which purpose the site of 
the almshouses founded by Mr. Burgess for widows, has been 
purchased for near seven hundred pounds by the Corporation ; 
and on the farther extremity, the large stone-yard and building, 
together with several tenements in the rear of the alms-houses in 
St. Nicholas-street where new buildings have been erected. 

The original Gaol was termed the White-house : it stood where 
is now the Clarence hotel or upper end of the Crown inn. It was 
a pointed-fronted house, with small square iron-grafted casements ; 
in front was a row of iron palisades, the door being in the centre 
through an iron gate, over which was the crest of the borough. 



38 

and in the corner a large pump for supplying the prison with 
water. The well still exists in front, under the curb-stone of the 
pavement: a few years since it suddenly foundered in, to the 
imminent danger of the London mail and passengers. If our 
memory serves us, one of the horses was killed by falling into it ; 
but the traces breaking, the rest were saved. In the centre of 
the front was a small casement, from which the hand or glove was 
exhibited during the mart or fair. Behind this front tenement, 
which was very confined, was a paved court-yard ; and behind this 
the prison or dungeon. In the court-yard was a remarkably fine 
mulberry-tree ; but, a man having effected his escape by ascending 
it and reaching the roof of the adjoining house, it was cut down. 
The edifice was of Portland stone, and very strong and ancient, 
but extremely inconvenient and unwholesome. It was sold to a 
Mr. Herman, in 1805, for £1000, and by him pulled down, and the 
present house or hotel erected. In a large coach-house behind, 
the original under-ground dungeon still exists, and is used as a coal- 
cellar : the descent was by a trap-door and iron ladder, which was 
withdrawn at night. In this dungeon was confined the celebrated 
Jack the painter. During the Jubilee, in the 50th year of the 
reign of George the Third, this hotel, and the coach-houses be- 
hind, being in an unfinished state, were converted into immense 
supper-rooms and fitted up with amazing magnificence and taste, 
and several hundred persons banqueted in what but a few months 
previous had been the seat of misery and crime. 

PUBLIC GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

In the year 1732, Dr. Smith, a physician long resident in the 
town, bequeathed an estate called East Standen Farm, in the Isle 
of Wight, in trust to the Dean and Chapter of Christ-church, Ox- 
ford, for the establishment of a free grammar school in the towii, 
and authorizing them to pay salaries of £50. per annum to a mas- 
ter, and £30. to an usher, In the year 1750, the rents having ac- 
cumulated to a sufficient sum, the trustees purchased the house in 
Penny-street, for the master to reside in, rent free, and erected the 
school behind ; they have appointed the masters from time to time, 
and within a few years raised the salaries to £80. for the master, 
and £60. the assistant ; but no person had been gratuitously edu- 
cated in pursuance of the founder's bequest. The farm is now let 
<©n lease at the rent of £200. per annum. 

Twenty years since, several public -spirited inhabitants instituted 
a suit in Chancery, to enforce a fulfilment of the founder's intent. 



39 

The affair was referred to one of the Masters of the Court. The 
trustees contended that the founder's intention was merely to pro- 
vide a school and masters ; but that, nevertheless, the scholars were 
to be instructed at their own expense. 
Decree of the High Court of Chancery : 

M The children of resident inhabitants of the Borough of Portsmouth, or the 
children of persons who were resident inhabitants of the said Borough at the 
time of the birth of such children, in cases where the parents are dead, being 
the children of persons professing the Protestant religion ; the boys to be 
educated gratuitously, shall be nominated by the Dean and Canons of Christ- 
church. No boy under the age of seven years shall be admitted a free 
scholar, or remain in it after the age of seventeen. All the boys shall be 
educated in the elements of Greek and Latin, and the principles of the Es- 
tablished Church. The hours of schooling shall not be fewer than six, and the 
recesses shall not be more than two in each year, one commencing on the Fri- 
day preceding Christmas, and the other on the Friday preceding the 21st of 
June, for one month each ; and the holidays, one whole day, and the afternoon 
of one other day in each week. The superintending the said school shall be 
left to the direction of the Dean and Canons. All vacancies which shall happen 
by death or otherwise, among the said boys so appointed, shall be filled up by 
other boys, to be appointed in like manner, once in each and every year, that 
is to say, on some day in the first week in January in each and every year, no- 
tice being first given thereof— such notice to be in writing, and to specify the 
number of vacancies to be filled up, and fixed on the doors of the several parish 
churches within the Borough of Portsmouth, for the space of fourteen days at 
the least, before the day to be fixed for that purpose." 

Trustees, the Dean and Canons of Christ-church, Oxford. Head- 
Master, Kev. K. H. Comyns, who was succeeded by Mr. Hazel. 
Second-Master, Edward Nayler. 

The school-room is large and handsome ; at each corner are 
busts of Homer, Cicero, Virgil, and Horace, and above the fire- 
place is a large ornamented stone slab, with this inscription : — 

VERTUTI ET UTERIS SACRUM, 

EX MUNIFICENTIA GULIELMI SMITH, M. D. 

QUI OBIIT XI DIE FEB. A.D. MDCCXXXII. 

January, 1823 — The Portsmouth Grammar-school, on Dr. Smith's 
foundation, re-opened, after a lapse of many years ; Mr. Nayler ap- 
pointed Second-Master : fifty boys appointed scholars by the Dean 
and Canons of Christ-church, Oxford, on the 15th instant. The 
Rev. Archdeacon Ball and Dr. Burton, Regius Professor of Divi- 
nity at Oxford, as Canons of Christ-church, visitors of Dr. Smith's 
Charity School, directed that in future the Head-Master shall reside 
in the house, and that he shall not perform any parochial duty to 
draw his attention from the business of the school. 

THE PORTSMOUTH THEATRE. 

While Mr. Stephen Kemble was manager, a sailor applied to 
him on one of the nights when there was no performance 



40 

and entreated him to open the Theatre, but was informed that 
as the town had not been apprised on the occasion the mana- 
ger could not risk the expense ! What will be the expense ? 
What will you open the house for tonight ? it must be opened to- 
night, for to-morrow I leave for India and God knows if ever I 
shall see a play again. I will represent a tragedy for five guineas ! 
well said the sailor, agreed, I will give it, upon this condition, that 
you let nobody into the Play-house but myself. What play do you 
choose? Kichard the Third. The house was accordingly prepared, 
the actors attended and the tar took his place in the front row of 
the pit. Mr. Kemble played Richard himself. The play was re- 
presented throughout, for the sailor brought a book with him and 
was very attentive, sometines applauding, often laughing, but 
always on the look-out, lest some other auditor might intrude upon 
his enjoyment. He retired perfectly satisfied and cordially thanked 
the manager for his ready compliance. 

The original theatre was in St. Mary-street, opposite Crown- 
street. It was afterwards in the High-street, four doors above the 
Unitarian Chapel. The first regular establishment was formed 
by Mattocks the singer ; and the company consisted of Mrs. Mat- 
tocks, Mrs. Kennedy, Whitfield, Booth, Wheeler, Perry, Towns- 
hend, &c— the latter a student at Dublin college. In 1771, 1774, 
the following were the names of the actresses, and their salaries 
per week: Mesdames Didier, Pott, Ward, Williams, Milledge, 
and Pyne, and Miss Sherman, each at one pound seven ; Mrs. 
Vidini a dancer at the same salary ; Mrs. Marr at a guinea ; 
Mrs, Hantry at fifteen shillings, and three dressers, viz. Mesdames, 
Burgay, Mathews and Littlater at four and sixpence each ! ! 

Lord Chatham used to visit this place of amusement in 1778. 
At the close of the American war, was opened a Sadler 's Wells at the 
White Swan, in opposition to the regular theatre. This was for a 
time very successful ; and innumerable were the papers, letters, 
paragraphs, &c. published by the partizans of each establishment. 
We possess some curious caricatures relative to this theatrical 
warfare, in which Luke Taswell, Esq. an eminent surgeon and a 
fine scholar, and, (I believe,) a relation of Taswell the dresser at 
Drury-lane in the days of Garrick, deigned to devote his talents 
to the support of the legitimate drama, publishing a kind of jour- 
nal in favour of Mr. Wheeler, the manager. The regular theatre 
was then removed to its present situation, under the management 
of Messrs. Wheeler and Davis, and on the death of Mr. and Mrs. 
Wheeler in 1794, was purchased by T, Collins, Esq. who amassed 



41 

hy this speculation a large fortune, and about 1800, enlarged'tne 
house by the erection of a gallery. So great was the public esti- 
mation of Mr. Collins, that in consequence of being informed 
against by & person in Salisbury, at the time the company per- 
formed in that city, Earl Radnor, in the House of Lords, and 
Mr. Hussey, in the House of Commons, became so much his 
champions as to be the chief causes of that law passing which 
emancipates the stage from its former restrictions, 

Mr. Collins conducted the Theatre with great spirit, producing 
the new plays as soon as their first run. How well he managed 
may be judged of, from the following quotation from Mr. Dibdin's 
Observations of a Tour through England. 

" I must not take leave of Portsmouth without doing justice on 
a subject which I had mistaken, as well as others. I own I always 
dreaded to occupy the Theatre there, for I had conceived that, in 
a sea-port, where it cannot be but that vice and infamy must be 
found, a play-house would of course exhibit every sort of riot 
and quarrelling. I never was so much mistaken in my life. An 
assembly-room, regulated by a master of the ceremonies, could 
not be better conducted. It is true prostitutes were seen there 
in plenty, but there was a place set apart for them, where they were 
obliged to conform to rules and orders or be turned out. They 
did not dare to bar up the lobbies and insult modest women. 
Better discipline never was observed. They were permitted to be 
happy as long as their conduct was inoffensive, and so good an effect 
had this wholesome established regulation on their conduct, that 
if I may judge by what I myself witnessed, there is more barefaced 
profligate indecency practised at Drury-lane or Covent-Garden 
Theatre in an evening, than at Portsmouth Theatre in a season," 

After the death of Mr. Collins the property passed into the 
hands of the theatrical triumvirate, Messrs. Kelly, Maxfield, and 
Collins, by whom it was managed for forty years with various suc- 
cess. They engaged the first actors and actresses in the kingdom, 
and during this period the following circumstances occured. 1805, 
August 5. The Comedians wish to be instructed in military exer- 
cises, and offer their services to the King, 

1812, January. A lad killed in the theatre by falling into the 
pit from the one shilling gallery. 

1824, April. A new melo-dramatic play, called ** Haroun 
Alompra," (from the pen of Mr. Henry Slight) produced at this 
Theatre with great magnificence of decoration and costume 9 and 



42 

was received with applause. The following is the advertisement; 

On Monday evening April 19, 1824, will be presented (first time) and for this 
night only, an entire new splendid historical melo-drama, founded on fact, in 
three acts, called Haroun Alompra, the Hunter Chief, or, The Conquest of Siam. 
The prologue to be spoken by Mrs. Davies. After which the admired farces of 
Love Laughs at Locksmiths, and A Rowland for an Oliver. 

By degrees the Theatre fell into (1828) ruin and delapidation, as 
may be judged of by the following description : " we find our 
Theatre will be open in a few days. We are surprised at this ; we 
were assured, that unless the whole of the interior was remodelled 
and repaired, it would not be decent to ask an audience to visit it, 
and yet our managers unblushingly invite the gentry of this town 
and neighbourhood to attend it in the disgraceful state as that in 
which it was when it closed last season, with the exception we be- 
lieve of the interior being white-washed. It will be advisable for 
all ladies who intend to witness the performance of Madame Ves- 
tris, to be cautious, lest they injure their dresses, to be well 
wrapped in fur, and to take the precaution of having a servant to 
hold an umbrella over them." 

In 1830, the house was bought by Mr. T. Owen, who built the 
saloon, but did not improve the house for dramatic purposes. This 
gentleman let the Theatre to Mr. Hollingsworth of Southsea, who 
not being able to obtain a license, it reverted to the hands of 
Mr. Maxfield, and was by him managed till 1836, when it was 
closed for want of support. The following was the concluding 
play of this management. 

Last night of the season. For the benefit of Mr. Maxfield. On Monday 
evening, June 6th, 1836, will be presented, the first time at this Theatre, the 
new spectacle of The Jewess! concerto on the Violin by Mr. Thorn, an admired 
dance, Miss. Parker; comic song Mr. Floyer. After which will be presented 
for the first time in this Theatre, the drama, called the Dream at Sea: 

If the history of Mr. Collins be memorable for the emancipation 
of the stage from unnecessary restriction ; that of Messrs Kelly 
and Maxfield is so for this reason : the purchase of a copy of the 
"Bent Day," without the author's authority by these gentlemen, 
led to the passing of ".the dramatic authors' bill ;" and these gentle- 
men were also the first persons fined for enfringing the enactments 
of the act, by playing the Rent Day without the author's permission, 



43 

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTION 

In 1815, Mr. Stebbing directed his attention to the formation 
of a Philosophical society, and by the assistance of several scien- 
tific men, succeeded in establishing meetings at his own residence, 
No. 69, High-street, thereby becoming the founder of the present 
" Portsmouth and Portsea Literary and Philosophical Society." 
In 1816 Dr. Porter delivered the introductory lecture, and for a 
long period Mr. Stebbing furnished apparatus, with every neces- 
sary, and bore the greater part of the expenses. It was not a 
regularly organised society until the 5th of February, 1818. From 
this period, until October the 6th, 1820, meetings were held, 
and occasional lectures delivered, and on October 20, 1820, the 
society held their first meeting at the old Town-hall ; and on the 
7th of December, 1821, again removed to Pembroke-street. 

This society is governed by a President, two Vice-Presidents, 
Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, Cura- 
tors of apparatus and museum, and a Committee of twenty-four, 
annually elected. Lectures are delivered, or papers on scientific 
subjects read, every Friday evening from October to March, from 
seven till nine o'clock. The annual meeting is held on the first 
Friday in July. The admission fee to members (who are elected 
by ballot) is one guinea, besides one guinea annual subscription ; 
and for the accommodation of visitors to the town, subscribers 
are also admitted (by ballot) at half a guinea per annum, who have 
no other privilege than attendance at the public meetings of the 
society. Each member is allowed a ticket of admission for a 
friend. 

" January, 1826. Mr. Lane, the artist, most handsomely pre- 
sented to the Literary and Philosophical society, one of the hap- 
piest productions of his pencil, in a portrait of Dr. John Porter, 
the first President." This picture now hangs in the library. 

The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the above insti- 
tution, in St. Mary-street, took place on Monday, June the 29th, 
1829. 

On the day of the spectacle, St. Mary's-street presented an ap- 
pearance of bustle and activity. Flags were displayed at the 
several corners of the paleing surrounding the area. The upper 
partition of the Foundation Stone was slung above its destined 
place. A space was railed off for the accommodation of the Cor- 
poration and the Members, with an elevated platform for the 
Mayor and other persons more particularly engaged in the pro- 
ceeding, while every spot that could command even a bird's eye 



44 

view of the ceremony, was eagerly occupied by spectators. The 
Corporation in costume, attended by the mace-bearer and other 
officers, arrived at two o'clock, and being arranged, the President 
then delivered to the Mayor a fine Coronation Medal in bronze, 
together with the silver and copper coins of his majesty's reign, in 
the finest possible state of preservation, most liberally presentee! 
for the occasion by George Grant, jun., Esq. ; the Reports of the 
Society for several years past, the Hampshire Telegraph news- 
paper for the last week, with sundry other documents : the whole 
were placed in a tube of lead r closely soldered up by workmen on 
the spot, and finally deposited in a deep cavity in the place where- 
on the foundation Stone was to be laid. The Mayor then received 
the trowel from the builder, and proceeded to the masonic labour 
of fixing the stone, first spreading the mortar on the upper sur- 
face of the one in which the coins, &c. were deposited. The 
upper stone was then gradually lowered, being guided by the 
builder and his assistants, the band playing the National Anthem, 
and the bells of St. Thomas's Church (on a given signal) marking, 
by "their deep-toned music/' the interesting moment. When 
finally adjusted, the Mayor struck it several times with a mallet, 
and ascertained the accuracy of its situation, by placing a level on 
the top of the East end, and at each other corner, from North to 
South, passing on each side. The Mace of the Borough of Ports- 
mouth was then placed across it — the Foundation Stone of the 
Institution was declared to be firmly and properly laid, and three 
hearty cheers broke forth from the Members and the surrounding 
assembly. 

The Mayor then briefly addressed the meeting, at the conclusion 
of which, the Rev, C. B. Henville, Vicar of Portsmouth, pro- 
nounced an eloquent and appropriate Benediction, and the pro- 
cession then returned to the Town Hall. 

The portion of the site on which the portico of the new build- 
ing stands, with the principal entrance, being six feet wide, is 
leasehold, together with other property of greater value and 
extent from the Corporation of Portsmouth, for lOOOyears, from the 
25th of March, 1723. viz. " All that piece of ground adjoyning 
to part of the said garden and other land there, now and for many 
years past in the occupation of the said Commissioners, scituate, 
lyeing, and being in the street commonly called St. Thomas- 
street, in Portsmouth aforesaid, containing in length 70 foot, and 
wears oif to a point at 45 foot long, eastward ; and in breadth, 
next and adjoining to the porch of Elizabeth Young, widow, some- 



45 

time Carters, and formerly Vinings, three foot and four inches, 
as the said piece of ground is now bounded and set out." The 
same was assigned to the purchasers rent free. 

The remainder of the site on which the Institution is erected 
was formerly the " Queenes Cooperadge," and was sold as free- 
hold, under the Acts of the 1st and 2nd Geo. IV. chap. 93 : under 
the 6th section of which quiet possession of the premises was 
effectually secured. In 1724, buildings were erected on it for 
the Victualling Department, and of late the stores were used as a 
depository for cheese — the land was sold in lots on Wednesday 
the 17th of September, 1828, by Mr. Hoggart, and the two pieces 
extending in depth 116 feet, or thereabouts, realized about £465. 
The Society purchased 68ft. 4in. in depth, 35ft. in breadth in the 
front, and 41ft. lOin. at the back part, and 72ft. 4in. at the other 
side, from Mr. Atfield, for the sum of 400/. The land has been 
conveyed to Trustees. The building contains a lecture room, 
44 feet by 27 (capable of accommodating 300 persons) ; a museum 
(lighted from above), 60 feet by 27; a library and reading room, of 
fine proportions ; together with apartments for the preparations of 
subjects for the museum ; the expense of which, including the 
purchase of the land, was £2000. 

On the day following the ceremony, a workman passing with a 
wheelbarrow across the space on which the Marine Band were 
stationed, and which had been crowded with spectators, found the 
earth give way beneath his feet: on examination, a Well of great 
depth, and twenty feet in circumference, was discovered, the ex- 
istence of which had previously been unknown. This was the 
Well originally used for the supply of the King's Slaughter-house, 
which occupied the situation of the store under which it was found. 

GREEN-ROW ROOMS. 

In Green-row, Portsmouth, is the Portsmouth Institution, or 
Green-row rooms, erected in 1812 by subscription. This noble 
building consists of large ball and card-rooms, elegantly fitted 
with cut-glass gas chandeliers, and painted and decorated in a 
neat syle. During the winter, assemblies and balls are held here. 
The rooms below are appropriated as a charity-school for the edu- 
cation of near three hundred children. On the front appear two 
niches, containing figures of charity children, and above, the 
following inscription, explanatory of its object: "Erected, 1812. 
Portsmouth Institution for the education of Children on the plan 
of the Rev. Dr. Bell, and in the principles of the Established 



46 

Church." A liberal subscription is yearly made, and the rental of 
the ball-room appropriated to the same charitable purpose, after 
paying the current expenses of the building-. 

BANQUET TO THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL. 

August, 1827. One of the most splendid, costly, and superb ban- 
quets ever witnessed in this, and rarely surpassed in any other town, 
was given to his Royal Highness by Daniel Howard, Esq. and the 
Corporate body. His Royal Highness landed under salutes from the 
shipping and the garrison at five minutes after seven, and proceeded 
in company with the naval and military officers to the banquet pre- 
pared at the Green-row assembly-rooms. A salute of twenty-one 
guns from the immense cannon on the King's bastion, announced 
the period when his Majesty's health was drunk, which was repeated 
on the toast of his Royal Highness's health, and likewise on his 
leaving the shore at eleven o'clock. The effect produced by the dis- 
charge of these noble cannon at this dead hour of the night, was 
magnificent beyond description. 

During one of the ducal visits, one of those tremendous cannon 
on the King's bastion accidentally went off during the act of reload- 
ing, by which a fine young artillery-man at the cannon's mouth was 
killed almost instantly, both his arms being torn away, and otherwise 
dreadfully mangled ; while a second was severely wounded, his left 
hand torn off, which rendered immediate amputation above the 
elbow necessary, and his breast much lacerated ; several other 
men were seriously hurt. All died in a few months from the effects 
of the explosion. 

Asylum for the Poor. That belonging to the parish of Ports- 
mouth, situate in Warblington-street, erected in 1719, is confin- 
ed and ruinous. Proposals were made by the Board of Ordnance 
to change this site for that of the Artillery Barracks at Halfway 
Houses ; Government wanted 600/. and the house in exchange ; 
the parish offered 400/. It was proposed in 1801, to build a new 
house. The present House was erected by subscription, a list of 
which is in oue of the rooms. 1804. John Merchant Bulkeley, 
Esq. of Lisbon, left by will to the poor-house of Portsmouth 
parish, 100/.: it was expended in building sick rooms. The poor 
are maintained by a rate of 7s. or 7s. 6c/. in the pound : and these 
rates were very oppressive, being increased by the passing of 
the wives of soldiers and sailors to their homes ; but the parish 
is now in an union with Portsea. 

By a return made to the Bishop of the Diocese, it appears the 



47 

Rental of the Property in Portsmouth, is 17,091/. of which sum 
at least 5000/. does not contribute to the Poors' Rate. 

Replies submitted by the Overseers of the Parish of Portsmouth, 
as applicable to so much of the parish as is within the Lines or For- 
tifications, to Commissioners (Messrs. Pringle and Lennard), 

1. — Poor Rates. The average amount of the Poor Rates per £, per annum 
for the year ending 25th March, 1833, was 11 Rates; 25th March, 1834, 13 
Rates; 25th March, 1835, 12 Rates — In three years 36 Rates, being an ave- 
rage of 12 for each year, at 6d, in the pound — 6s. The above should rather 
be called a Rate for general purposes, as from it is paid the amount of the Gaol 
Precepts, together with all charges arising from Inquests, Committal of Va- 
grants and Disorderly Persons ; publication of Revised Lists under the Re- 
form Bill, &c Indeed, it is a Municipal as well as a Poor Rate, more than 
one-sixth being for other purposes than paying the Poor. Of the real value 
of the assessments made, the proportion was nominally at two-thirds, but actu- 
ally at less than one half on the whole amount of property, about 15,5002. the 
amount of Poor-rates annually collected from the property, land excepted, on 
the average of three years 1833-34-35, is 39072. 15s. 2d. the amount annually 
collected from land, is 682. 16s. 

11 Houses. — Inhabited and rated; 601 actually paying Rates. Of these 
there are of each as under : — 

Under £5. 53 

52. and under 10/ 139 

10 . . ..... 20 236 

20 30 106 

30 40 37 

40 50 14 

50 and upwards 16 — 601 

Number of Houses void 66, number not rated, or rated and excused pay- 
ment of Rates, 449. 

III. Number of all other Ratings not Houses or Land. — 209 Bonding Vaults, 
Stores, Breweries, Theatre, Wharfs, Market-house, Timber Pounds, Stables, 
Billiard Rooms, Manufactories, Coal Yards, &c. 

IV. Persons. — Number of, rated for Houses, Counting-houses, Warehouses, 
and Shops, who have not been excused payment on account of poverty, 623. 

The Parish of Portsmouth, in the year 1816, paid 3,6962. 3s. Od. including 
1,3482. 8s. Id. for out-door relief. Since 1814, the amounts expended were 
as follows : 



1825 .... 


.. £3,860 6 


1826 .... 


. . 3,521 6 


1827 .... 


. . 4,007 6 


1828 .... 


. . 3,255 19 


*1829 ... 


. .. 3,572 11 


*1830 ... 


. . . 4,039 15 


*1831 ... 


. . . 3,769 13 


*1832 ... 


. .. 3,761 15 


*1833 ... 


. . . 3,701 8 


*1834 .... 


... 4,215 5 



8 Out-door £1,687 4 10 

8 1,710 6 6 

1,721 18 2 

6 1,577 17 10 

6 1,967 12 5 

3 1,718 8 3 

6 1,808 10 6 

2,077 4 11 

9 2,426 6 10 

9 2,586 18 4 



* Including advances made to Paupers on account of other parishes. 
It appears that the amount of rates collected, last year, in Portsmouth, with 
a population of 7,000 persons, was 42152. with 25862 out-door relief. 

ALMS HOUSE, ST. MARY-STREET, PORTSxMOUTH. 

This Alms House and School-room were built A.D. 1831, by the 
Minister and Churchwardens of the Parish of Portsmouth. The 



48 

Rev. C. B. Henville, Vicar ; Mr. William George Wilson, Mr. 
William Love, Churchwardens; Mr. Andrew Nance, Mr. William 
Henry Palmer, Sidesmen. 

The old Alms-house in Penny-street being required, under the 
act of Parliament, for enlarging the borough gaol, and the purchase 
money, by agreement, six hundred and fifty pounds, being paid 
for the purchase of the site and the building of the new alms-house, 
the inhabitants were invited to contribute, by a voluntary subscrip- 
tion, towards defraying the expenses of the new building. The 
ground, being part of the old victualling-office on which these build- 
ings are erected, measuring forty feet in front, and in depth seventy 
feet, was purchased of Mr. Benjamin Bramble for the sum of two 
hundred and fifty pounds. The estimate for the building, &c. was as 
follows : — For the Alms-house, containing ten rooms for the habi- 
tation of aged women, five hundred pounds ; for the school-room, 
one hundred and three pounds, making altogether the sum of eight 
hundred and eighty-three pounds. The elevation is in the Gothic 
style of architecture. 

By whom the old alms-house in Penny-street was founded is lost 
in oblivion, the earliest record now extant, being the register of 
the funeral of a person who was buried from thence, Anno Domini 
One Thousand Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-five. 

As vacancies occur, they have been, from time immemorial, filled 
by the nomination of the Minister and Churchwardens. 

THE SAVINGS BANK. 

For several years the business of this establishment was conducted 
in the old Town-hall, but in 1837, the Directors having in their 
hands a sum of nine hundred pounds, determined on erecting the 
present neat building on part of the garden formerly attached to the 
residence of the Agent Victualler in St. Thomas-street. The eleva- 
tion is from a design of T. E. Owen, Esq. and the builder was Mr. 
Hendy. It contains all the offices necessary for the business of the 
bank. 



THE 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



PORTSMOUTH. 




HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ 



PORTSMOUTH: 
SO*LD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF 
PORTSMOUTH. 



^Churches of the Established Religion — Conventual Grants — Reli- 
gious Houses — Foundations, Alterations and Endowments — The 
Dissenting Chapels of every Denomination, Biographical Noti- 
ces of their Ministers, 



Deed between the Prior of Southwick and the Vicar of Portsmouth relative 
to the Tithes of the Town ; 1260. 

*' To all the faithful in Christ by whom these letters shall be seen or heard, 
Master Thomas of Winchester sends eternal health in the Lord. We decide 
between the ecclesiastics, the Prior and Convent of Southwick, patrons of the 
Chapel of Portsmouth and Rectors, on the one part, and Thomas de Single- 
Ion, perpetual Vicar of the said chapel, on the other part, after this manner, 
with the unanimous consent of both parties : to wit, It is ordained that the 
aforesaid vicar shall fully enjoy all the oblations and obventions appertaining 
and belonging to the said chapel, of whatsoever kind they may be, with mor- 
tuaries and offerings belonging to the same, together with the small tithes of 
■flax or vegetables, and all others arising within the town of Portsmouth, as 
the preceding vicar was accustomed to receive ; but for the tithes of every kind 
•of corn, the said vicar shall pay annually, at the termination of each quarter 
of the year hereafter mentioned, the sum of one hundred shillings sterling : 
to wit, at the feast of AH Saints twenty shillings; at the feast of the Purifica- 
tion of the Blessed Virgin twenty shillings, at the feast of the Passover forty 
shillings, and at the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin twenty 
shilings. And when the said prior and convent shall have placed the books, 
and put the ornaments and decorations of the said chapel in a fit and proper 
state of repair, the said vicar shall maintain in the aforesaid proper state the 
said chapel with all contingent burthens as well in the services as in others 
ordinary and extraordinary ; and all the future vicars for the time being shall 
do in like manner : and the said vicar and his successors shall have a glebe- 
house in the town of Portsmouth to dwell in, except a certain space on the 
north part of the said glebe-house enclosed with a wall, and reserved to the 
said prior and convent. And this ordnance, made public, established, con- 
firmed, and rendered irrevocable for ever by common consent, is strengthened 
and rendered more effectual by the alternately attached seals of each of the 
said parties. Made in the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and 
-sixty, and the third day of May." 

ENDOWMENT OP THE PARISH AND VICARAGE OF PORTSMOUTH, 

" To all the sons of holy mother church to whom the knowledge of this 
writing shall come, William by the divine mercy Lord Bishop of Winchester, 
sends eternal health in the Lord. Be it known that we have carefully read 
■and with due deliberation inspected a certain public deed, concerning certain 
scatters by compensation and agreement between the ecclesiastic, Edward 

G 



Prior of the priory or Conventual Church of Southwick, of the holy order of 
Saint Augustine, and the Convent of the same place, impropriators of the 
parish church of Portsmouth ,in our diocese of Winchester, on the one part, 
and Master John Tone, perpetual Vicar of the said parish church of Ports- 
mouth on the other, duly executed and sealed by the seal and subscription of 
John Marham by apostolic authority public notary, sealed and confirmed by 
us according to the tenor of the following words : In the name of the Lord 
Amen By this present public instrument be it clearly made manifest to all, 
that in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand four hundred 
and fifty -four, and in the second elevation and the eighth year of the pontifi- 
cate of our most serene father in Christ, and our Lord, Lord Nicholas the 
Fifth, by divine providence Pope, and on the twenty-fourth day of April, in the 
chapter-house of the priory or conventual church of Southwick in the diocese 
of Winchester, and in the presence of my public notary subscribed, and the 
underwritten witnesses, specially appointed venerable men, brother Edward, 
prior of the priory or conventual Church of Southwick aforesaid, and many 
other canons of the said conventual church, iu the same place, for the under- 
written purpose, as they have affirmed, assembled in and holding a chapter, 
improprietors of the parish church of Portsmouth in our said diocese of Win- 
chester, and Master John Tone, perpetual vicar, as he hath affirmed, of the pa- 
rish church of Portsmouth aforesaid, publicly declared and recited upon what 
occasion of witholding or non-payment of a certain annual sum of a hundred 
shillings to be paid yearly to the aforesaid ecclesiastics by the said vicar of the 
church, as the said ecclesiastics have asserted, and also on pretext of the re- 
pairing of the chancel, and for the support of all other burthens ordinary and 
extraordinary, of the parish church of Portsmouth aforesaid, pertaining to the 
vicar of the said church whosoever he may be for the time being, as the said 
ecclesiastics have also affirmed, and there arose between the parties great mat- 
ter of doubt, and furthermore they asserted that by the mediation of the friends 
of the aforesaid parties this dispute and doubt was set at rest between the 
same, and the said parties, notwithstanding any composition whatsoever previ- 
ously made between the predecessors of the said parties of and concerning 
the aforesaid matter, have agreed and settled in the manner following, viz. — 
that the aforesaid John Tone, perpetual vicar of the parish church of Ports- 
mouth aforesaid, and every and each his successors, vicars hereafter of the said 
church, should fully enjoy all the oblations and obventions to the church of 
whatsoever kind they may be, with the mortuaries and legacies appertaining 
to it, and also all the small tithes of (linorum et canaborum) fiax or vegetables 
arising within the same town and parish, and all other things as his predecessors 
were accustomed to enjoy, except the tithes of every kind of corn, (bladi,) 
which the said ecclesiastics and all and each of their successors will enjoy for 
ever, with the exception, also, and reservation to the said religious men, and 
to all and each of their successors, of a certain annual pension of twenty shill- 
ings, (solidorum) arising annually from ' God's House' at Portsmouth, which 
sum of twenty shillings the said ecclesiastics, and all and each of their suc- 
cessors, shall receive and enjoy for ever ; and also that the said John Tone, 
the aforesaid vicar, and all and each of his successors, vicars hereafter of the 
said church, be not bound in future for the payment of the said sum of one 
hundred shillings, of which mention is before made, but that the said John, 
the aforesaid vicar, and all and each of his successors, vicars hereafter of the 
said church, shall be unmolested, free, and exempt from rendering of payment 
of the said sum of one hundred shillings, to be paid to the said ecclesiastics for 
ever; also that the said John Tone, the aforesaid vicar, and all his successors 
vicars hereafter of the aforesaid church of Portsmouth, shall repair and main- 
t tin for ever the chancel of the said church, in all its erections, windows, glass, 
and other things thereunto appertaining, at their own cost and expense for 
ever, along with the other burdens belonging to the said church of Portsmouth, 
as well in the services and all other burdens, both ordinary and extraordinary. 
Also the said John, vicar, and all and each his successor vicars hereafter, shall 
have a glebe-house in the town of Portsmouth for an habitation, in the same 
manner and form as the present vicar and his predecessors have hitherto 
inhabited. Moreover the aforesaid parties at that time in the same place, pro- 



3 

mised that they, as soon as they should he conveniently ahle, will procure, as 
far as is in them and belongs to them, that this said composition and agreement 
should be approved, confirmed, perpetuated, and rendered effectual by the au- 
thority of the reverend father in Christ, and our Lord, Lord William, by the 
grace of God, Bishop of Winchester. These presents were executed as they 
are written and recited above, in the year of our Lord, in the pontificate, and 
in the month, day, and place aforesaid, in the presence (at that time and in 
that place) of the discreet men, Robert Edyngdon, chaplain, and John Row- 
land, literate, of Salisbury and Chichester, specially invited and requested to 
be witnesses to the aforesaid matters. And I John Marham, clerk of the dio- 
cese of Chichester, by apostolic authority, Notary Public, was present to all 
and each of the aforesaid presents whilst they were transacting and doing so as 
is premised, in the year of our Lord, in the pontificate, month, day, and year 
aforesaid, together with the aforesaid witnesses, and all and each of them, I 
saw and heard so done, wrote, published, and reduced to this public form, and 
with my usual and customary seal, being asked and required, sealed to the 
faith and testimony of all and each of the aforesaid premises. Which afore- 
said composition and agreement, we, William, by Divine grace Bishop of Win- 
chester, at the earnest petition of the aforesaid parties, ratify, and also ap- 
prove and confirm by our pontifical authority, and have decreed that hence- 
forth, for ever, they should have all weight, strength, and confirmation. 

" Speciaily reserving to ourselves, and to our successors, the power of regu- 
lating, altering, subtracting from, and adding to the aforesaid composition and 
agreement, when just and lawful reason shall require it. 

" In testimony of which our seal is attached to this deed Given in our 
manor of Southwick, in the twenty-second day of May, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand four hundred and fifty -four, and in the seventh year of our 
consecration. "W. Winton." 

After the dissolution of the Monastery of Southwick, the Recto- 
ries of Portsmouth and Portsea, with the tithes of corn and grain 
of the whole Island of Portsea, including the hamlet of Hilsea 
within Portsbridge, together with the Advowsons of the Vicarages 
of Portsmouth and Portsea, were granted, on the 12th of July, in 
the 35th year of the reign of Henry VIII. to the Warden and 
Scholars, Clerks of St. Mary's College, near Winchester, for ever. 
The lease of the tithes, and of the manor farm of Stubbington, is 
held under the College. The whole of the above property was pre- 
viously part of the large possessions of the Priory and Convent of 
Southwick. — Vicarial Records. 

THE CHURCH OF SAINT THOMAS. 

In the centre of the town of Portsmouth stands the parish church, 
erected between 1210-20, at the instance of Peter de Rupibus, 
Bishop of Winton, and dedicated to St. Thomas. It is in the form 
of a Latin cross ; the nave is adorned with eight Doric pillars, sup- 
porting circular arches; the two connecting the transepts being 
larger and higher than the others. The arched roof is decorated 
with bold and elegant cornices. On the centre of the larger arches 
appear shields, one bearing the date 1693, the other the initials 
M. T. B. ; and on the one in front of the chancel the Portsmouth 
arms, above which is a large painting of the arms of William and 



Mary. The northern transept retains traces of the ancient Saxora 
arches, both on the walls and in the disposition of the windows ; it 
is also much larger than the southern, and was not disturbed in the 
great alterations in 1692. Over the internal doors is the regal em- 
blazonment ; and below, a small coat of arms, blue and red, with 
six figures of foreign birds. 

THE REFORMATION IN PORTSMOUTH. 

Dr. Ridley having in his lent sermon, preached against the super- 
stition that was generally had to images, it raised a great heat over 
England so that Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, hearing that on 
May day, the people of Portsmouth had removed and broken the 
images of Christ and the saints, wrote about it with great warmth 
to one Captain Vaughan that waited on the protector and was then 
at Portsmouth ; he desired to know whether he should send one to 
preach against it, though he thought it was like casting precious- 
stones to hogs or worse than hogs as where these Lollards.* 

In 1690 the church underwent a complete change, the body, nave, 
and tower being pulled down, and the two former rebuilt under the 
auspices of Ambrose Stanyford, Esq. on whose sepulchral stone, in 
one of the side aisles, the circumstance is commemorated ; — "Beneath 
this stone lyes the earthly remains of Ambrose Stanyford, Esq. who 
by the good providence of God, was the happy instrument of con- 
triving, framing, and finishing the inside beauty of this house, for 
the glory of God, and to the comfort of his people assembled here to 
his worship." 

REBUILDING OF THE NAVE OF THE CHURCH. 

Particulars relative to the re-building and repairs in the years 1691 
to 1694, from an old vestry book. In 1691, two double poor books 
were granted to the Churchwardens, and they were empowered to 
*• contract with John Michell (who was then building y body 
of y church), to bring down y twoe old pillars whych were 
under y old tower and sett up new pillars in their places and 
compleat divers works in the north and south isles and to pay 
him twoe hundred pounds in flour payments." In 1692 John 
Michell declared himself incapable of carrying on the works, 
and gave up his contract to the Trustees of the parrish, and 
Mr„ Ambrose Stanyford (seeing the work is wholly at a stand, and 
never like to be finished according to the old contract), was autho- 
?ised to undertake the finishing with all convenient speed, In the 

* These letters are in Fox's Acts and Monuments, Edward vj. 



following year anew rate was agreed upon, and towards the re-buflcf- 
ing and repairing the parish church every inhabitant shall be asses- 
sed to the said rate at six tymes the sum that he, she, or they, were 
rated to the last poor book, and Mr. Ambrose Stanyford shall goe 
forward in the finishing the church, and the parish shall be obliged 
to pay him what shall be due, and the money shall be raised by rate. 
After some time, dissatisfaction arose, and Mr. Henry Maydman 
was authorized by the inhabitants meeting in God's-house Chapell, 
the then pro-parish church, to superintend the disbursements of the 
monies raised, and to keep a strict account in a book. And in 1694 
to pay y debts upon account of the church it was agreed, " that a 
book of rates shall be made, which shall amount unto and comprise 
six poor-books after the rate of the said parrish." " Our parish 
church is become a beauteous structure, I heartily wish I could see 
the chancel answer it."* 

With the exception of the flat ceiling, which was added at the time 
of the other repairs, the chancel appears much in its original state ; 
it consists of a large centre and two small aisles, divided by ten 
Saxon pillars, with pilasters in the side walls, no two of which cor- 
respond, some being foliated, some adorned with lozenges, some have- 
ing square, and others rounded capitals. Two of the pillars on 
which the original square tower rested still remain, affording beauti- 
ful examples of the clustered style. From the chancel-pillars spring 
arches in the pointed form of architecture, consisting of clustered 
ribs, while every second pillar is connected by the rib of a large 
circular archway in the walls ; between these last-mentioned arches 
project foliated corbels, the centre one supported on two figures of 
monks' heads, with cowls on, and the hands elevated, the counte- 
nances expressive of pain. From the corbels rise elegant clustered 
pilasters with square capitals ; and from traces still discernable in 
the walls, the upper part was adorned with large circular arches, 
and the clustered pilasters supported the groining of the ancient roof, 
at which time the circular, or St. Catharine's window, at the eastern 
end, was visible. The great window, and those on each side, are 
ornamented with pillars and pilasters corresponding with those belo*v. 
The walls of the chancel above the arches are double, with a passage 
all round the church : this has been closed up (1817). In an 
engraving published by the Society of Antiquaries, the church of 
St. Thomas appears as a cluster of monastic buildings, with turrets 
at the corners, and the square tower in the centre, (we have no doubt 

x MSS. of Thomas Heather, December 10, 1694. 



6 

the turrets still existing at the southern transept, are those of the 
ancient building). 

DIMENSIONS OF ST. THOMAS' CHURCH. 

Portsmouth Church is in length in the inside, from the east end to 
the great doors of the west end, 112 feet, from those doors to the 
outside of the porch 27 feet, in the whole 139 feet, and in breadth in 
the inside of the cross isle or from the end of the north gallery to 
the end of the south 82 feet in breadth, in the inside of the nave or 
body 54 feet. Measured by G. Huish, 7th of August, 1752. 

ASSASSINATION OF VILLIERS, DUKE OF 
BUCKINGHAM. 

My Lord of Cleveland, who had but newly turned his back from 
the duke, and was so near that he heard the thump, and a Scottish- 
man, a bishop of Ireland, who was at Portsmouth, affirm that when 
Felton gave the blow he said " God have mercy on thy soul !" 

" Maddam, — I am to trouble your grace with a most lamentable 
relation. This day betwixt nine and ten of the clock in the morn- 
ing, the Duke of Buckingham then comming out of a parlor 
into a hall to goe to his coach, and soe to the King, (who was four 
miles off) having about him diverse Lords, Colonels, and Captains, 
and many of his owne servants, was by one Felton slain at one 
blow, with a dagger-knife. In his staggering he turned about, utter- 
ing onely this word, * Villiane !' and never spake word more, but 
presently plucking out the knife from himselfe before he fell to the 
ground, hee made towards the traytor two or three paces, and then 
fell against a table, although he were upheld by diverse that were 
neere him, that [through the villained close carriage in the act] 
could not perceive him hurt at all, but guess'd him to be suddenly 
oversway'd with some apoplexie, till they saw the blood come gush- 
ing from his mouth and the wound soe fast, that life and breath at 
once left his begored body. Maddam, you may easily guesse what 
outcrys wers then made by us, that were commanders and officers 
there present, when wee saw him thus dead in a moment, and slaine 
by an unknowne hand. In the mean time Felton passed the throng 
which was confusedly great, not soe much as mark'd or followed, in 
soe much that not knowing where, nor who he was that done the 
fact, some came to keep guard the gates, and others went to the 
ramports of the towne, in all which tyme the villiane was standing 
in the kitchen of the same house ; and after the enquiry made by a 
multitude of captaines and gentlemen then pressing into the house 



and court, and crying out amaine, * Where is the villiane ?' ■ Where 
is the butcher ?' hee most audaciously and resolutely drawing forth his 
sword, came out and went amongst them saying boldly, * I am the 
man, heere I am :* upon which divers drew upon him, with intent 
to have then dispatcht him ; but Sir Thomas Morton, myselfe, 
and some others, used such means (though with much trouble and 
difficulty) that we drew him out of their hands; and by order of 
my Lord High Chamberlaine, we had the charge of keeping him 
uuill a guard of musketeers were brought, to convey him to the 
Governor's house, where we were discharged. My Lord High 
Chamberlaine and Mr. Secretary Cooke were then at the Governor's 
house, did there take his examination, of which as yel there is 
nothing knowne ; onely whilst he was in our custody 1 asked him 
several questions, to which he answered, viz. He sayd, he was a 
Protestant in religion ; hee also expressed himselfe that he was 
partly discontented for want of eighty pounds pay which was due to 
him ; and for that he being a Lieutenant of a company of foot, the 
company was given over his head unto another, and yet, hee sayd 
that that did not move him to this resolution, but that he reading 
the Remonstrance of the House of Parliament, it came into his 
mind, that in committing the act of killing the Duke, hee should do 
his country great good service. And hee sayd that to-morrow he 
was to be prayed for in London. I then asked him what church 
and to what purpose: hee told me at a church in Fleet-street Con- 
duit, and, as for a man much discontented in mind. Now wee see- 
ing things fall from him in this manner, suffered him not to be fur- 
ther questioned by any, thinking: it much fitter for the Lords to 
examine him, and to finde it out, and knowe from him whether he 
was encouraged and sett on by any to performe this wicked deed. 
But to return to the screeches made att the fatal blow given, — the 
Duchesse of Bu( kingham and the Countesse of Anglesey came forth 
into a gallery which looked into the hall where they might behold 
the blood of their deerest lord gushing from him : — ah, poor ladies ! 
such was their screeching, teares, and distractions, that I never in 
my life heard the like before, and hope never to heare the like againe. 
His Ma ties griefe for the losse of him was expressed to be more than 
great, by many teares hee hath shed for him, with which I will con- 
clude this sad and untimely news. Felton had sewed a writing in 
the crowne of his hatt, half within the lyuing, to shew the cause 
why hee putt this cruel act in execution ; thinking he should have 
beene slaine in the place : and it was thus : 

■ If I bee slaine, let no man condemne himselfe ; it is for our sinns 



8 

that our harts are hardned, and become sencelesse, or else hee had 
not gone soe long unpunished. John Felton.' 

6 He is unworthy of the name of a gentleman, or soldier, in my 
opinion, that is afrayd to sacrifice his life for the honor of God, bis 
king, and his country. John Felton.' 

" Maddam, this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth, yet all too much too, if it had so pleased God. i thought it 
my bounded duty, howsoever, to let your Ma tie have the first, intelli- 
gence of it, by the hand of, Maddam, Yor sorrowfull Servant, 
Dudley Carleton.. 

" To her Majesty the Queen/* 

The paper which was found in Felton's hat, and by which he was 
identified as the assassin of the Duke of Buckingham, is still pre- 
served. Lady Evelyo, presented it to Mr. Upcott of Londan. 

From a drawing it appears that on the site originally stood a lofty 
stone building, apparently a hall, which was the scene of the mur- 
der. 

In a by-cutler's shop of Tower-hill, he (Felton) bought a ten- 
penny knife (so cheap was the instrument of this great attempt), and 
the sheath thereof he sewed to the lining of his pocket, that he 
might at any moment draw forth the blade alone with one hand, for 
he had maimed the other. This done, he made shift, partly it is 
said on horseback and partly on foot, to get to Portsmouth ; for he 
was indigent and low in money, which perhaps might have a little 
edged his desperation. At Portsmouth, on Saturday, being the 23rd. 
of August of that current year, he pressed without any suspicion in 
such a time of so many pretenders to employment, into an inner 
chamber, where the duke was at breakfast accompanied with men of 
quality and action. Monsieur de Saubes and Sir Thomas Fryer : 
and there, a little before the duke's rising from the table, he went 
and stood, expecting till he should pass through a kind of lobby be- 
tween that room and the next, where were divers attending him. To- 
wards which passage, somewhat darker than the chamber which he 
voided ; while the duke came with Sir Thomas Fryer close to his'ear, in 
the very moment as the said knight withdrew himself from the duke, 
this assassinate give him, with a back blow, a deep wound into his 
left side, leaving the knife in his body ; which the duke himself 
pulling out, on a sudden effusion of spirits, he sunk down under the 
table in the next room, and immediately expired. Within the space 
of not not many minutes after the fall of the body and removal 
thereof into the first room, there was not a living creature in either 
of the chambers ; The very horror of the fact had stupified all 



<ofiriosity. Thus died this great peer, in the 36th year of his age 

tjomplete, and three days over, in a time of great recourse unto him 

and dependance upon him, the house and town full of servants and 

suitors ; his duchess in an upper room, scarce yet out of bed : and 

the court at that time six or nine miles from him, which had been 

the stage of hi? greatness."* 

It seldom fails to attract the attention of visitors, that a sepulchral 

monument should, as it were, form the altar-piece of this church, 

but so in fact it does-^-the memorial to the memory of Villiers, 

Duke of Buckingham. It consists of an urn in the centre, (said to 

contain his heart,) surmounted by a phoenix : below are two figures 

as large as life, on each side pyramids of armour, and above, the 

coronet and arms of the house of Buckingham, supported by angels ; 

Georgio Villerio Buckingham. Duci, 

Qui Majoribus utrinq. clarissimis oriundus ; Patre 

Georgio Villerio de Brooksby in comit. 

Leicestr. 

Milit. Matre Maria Beaumont Buckingham. 

Comitissa; 

Cunctis naturae fortunaeq. Dotibus insignis 

Duorum prudentissimorum Principum gratia, 

suisqu. meritis 

Vota suorum supergress. rerum gerendarum moli 

Par, soli Invidiae impar : dum exercitus iterum 

In hostem 

Parat, hoc in oppido, caedis immanissi. fatali arena, 

novo cruoris & lachrimar. inundante oceano, 

Nefaria perditissimi Sicarii manu 

Percussus occubuit 

Anno Domini 1628 mense Aug. die 23. 

Viro ad omnia quae maxima essent nato, ejusqu. 

Et suis hie una confossis visceribus 

Susanna Soror, Denbighiae Comitissa 

Cum Lachrymis et Luctu perpetuo p. 

Anno Domini 1631. 

Tu Viator, si qua tibi pietatis viscera, tain indignum 

Tanti viri casum indignabundus geme 

Et Vale.f 



* Reliquiae Wotten. 12mo. Lond. 1651. 

<f A Translation. — "To George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who from both 
parents, was most nobly descended ; his father was Sir George Villiers, of Brooks, 
by, in the county of Leicester; and his mother, Maria Beaumont, Countess of 
Buckingham. He enjoyed every distinguished gift ot nature and fortune, with 
the favour of two most prudent princes. His merits surpassed even the wishes of 
all who knew him: he was equal to bear the mass of the most weighty affairs 
and only unequal to sustain the pressure of envy. Whilst he was preparing, in, 
this town, his army to encounter the enemy again, a merciless slaughter— that in- 
undated the fatal shore with a new ocean of blood and tears, caused him to fall 
by the atrocious hand of an accursed assassin, A.D. 1628, August 23. To this 
man, born to all that was great, and to his here buried remains, Susanna, his sister, 
Countess of Derby, with tears and perpetual mourning, erected this monument, 
A.D. 1631, 

Thou passenger, if possessing any bowels of compassion and indignation, lameafc 
the undeserved fate of such a man, "And farewell." 



10 

In front of the monument is the naval anchor. " George Yilliers, 
who was appointed Lord High Admiral on the 30th of January, 
1619, used for his badge an auchor, with the cable entwined, all 
Or."* The cable does not appear in this monument. — During the 
Revolution this monument was much defaced : it has of late time 
being perfectly restored. 

On either side of this, and in the side aisles, are a great variety of 
marble monuments, more especially to the memories of Sir C. Blunt ; 
Sir H. Willoughby : the learned and pious vicar, Thomas Heather, 
whose portrait is still to be found in the libraries of the curious : who 
rebuilt the vicarage house at his own expense — much improved the 
Glebe lands, and, in his own words, left the vicarage much better 
than he found it. Mr. Burgess, vicar of the parish, " a wise and 
active man, who had distinguished himself by his zeal in effecting 
the restoration of Charles, and was rewarded by expulsion from his 
living, as was a clergyman of the name of Bragg, probably his curate, 
on the grounds of nonconformity. He lies buried in the chancel." 

The following letter, on the subject of the above circumstance, is 
highly curious : — 

" Reverend Sirs, — The vicarage under your patronage becoming 
void by the profest nonconformity of Mr. Burgess ; we thought fitt 
not only to advertize you thereof but also have taken the boldness to 
desire you please to forbear presenting one to supply the vacancy, 
for a few days yet, in regard his Royal Highness the Duke of York 
(under whose particular government we are) hath promised a more 
than ordinary care in the recommendation of a person to supply this 
cure : from which kindess of his Royal Highness, we are in hopes 
to procure his letter of favour to yourselves in behalf of one Mr. 
Loton, an orthodox conformable minister who, besides the good 
opinion those of Deptford (where he lately was curate) have de- 
livered of him, himself hith appeared here, and yesterday in our 
churche with good applause of his abilities, as well from the garrison 
as Corporation, and all other peaceable and well-affected people. Mr. 
Williams, the bearer, being one of the churchwardens, comes express 
to give you more such further satisfaction herein as may be requisite, 
and to attend the honour of your answeare, for your humble servants, 

John Timbrell, Mayor, 
Hugh Salosbury, W. Holt, W. M. Michel, 
Edward Archer, J. S. Stevenson, Ben. Johnson. 

Portesmouth, 18 Aug. 1662. 



* Retrospective Review, 1827. 



11 

In the chancel are escutcheons for various branches of the Buck- 
ingham, Percy, and Douglas families ; and a marble slab to the me- 
mory of a Russian officer, with a Greek inscription. There are 
likewise many chaste mural monuments in the body of the church ; 
that of Lake Allen, Esq. of ihe Inner Temple, a native of Ports- 
mouth, author of an Antiquarian History of his native place, and 
many other pieces ; he was a fine classical scholar, and possessed 
au extraordinary facility in the perusal of the various court-texts 
used in ancient deeds, charters, &c. His constitution was uncom- 
monly delicate, and his figure small, and it was principally through 
the care of his grandfather, Lake Taswell, Esq. an eminent medical 
character, that he attained manhood. He was interred in St. 
Thomas's church yard, on the southern side of the chancel. 

That of the Rev. George Cuthbert, chaplain to the Kiiig, &c. al- 
derman, and several times mayor of this his native place. Mr. Cuth- 
bert was much advanced in years, and had for a long time been in 
a very debilitated state of health. In earlier life he possessed much 
taste and execution as an amateur artist, and several of his pictures, 
at times, adorned the exhibition of the Royal Academy. He lies 
interred in the chancel of St. Thomas's church. Also a Monument 
to the memory of T. S. Shugar, Esq. who died during his Mayor- 
alty. 

MARRIAGE OF CHARLES THE SECOND. 

In the register-book of this parish is preserved the marriage entry 
of Charles II. written on vellum, in the old English character, with 
gilt letters finely illuminated ; it is quite clear and fresh, as when 
first written. In 1824 it was examined by the Duke and Duchess 
of Clarence, and a long train of nobility ; a particular account of 
this visit was recorded in the books by Mr. Swan, then church- 
warden. Their Highnesses were conducted through the Church by 
the Rev. C. B. Henville, the Vicar, and the several Officers of the 
Church, and were attended by Admiral Sir James H. Whitshed and 
family, Major-General Sir James Lyon, K.C.B. and many Officers 
of the Army and Navy: 

" Our most gracious Sovereign Lord Charles the Second, by the 
grace of God, King of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the 
Faith, &c. and the most illustrious Princess Donna Catarina, In- 
fanta of Portugal, daughter to the deceased Don Juan the Fourth, 
and sister to the present Don Alphonso, King of Portugal, were 
married at Portsmouth, upon Thursday, the two-and-twentieth day 
of May, in the year of our Lord God 1662, being in the fourteenth 



T2 

year of His Majesty's reign ; by the Right Rev. Father in Gbcf„ 
Gilbert, Lord Bishop of London, Dean of His Majesty's Chapel 
Royal, in the presence of several of the Nobility of His Majesty's 
dominions and of Portugal." 

The window over the altar was the gift of Mr. Henville and re- 
presents the Ascension in the centre, with the Virgin and child, and 
St. John on either side. The window is copied from several old 
windows, which were thought most likely to assimilate to the style 
of the building. The colours are good and brilliant, and the draw- 
ing and shading much more elaborate than any performance of the 
older masters. There was some hypercriticism at the time of its first 
erection, which gave rise to the following letter 

To Mr. Edwards, Winchester. 

Sir, — Respecting the Window lately erected in the Chancel 
of Portsmouth Church — I think it is but due to myself, and but 
common justice to yon as the Artist to state, that I am satisfied 
with the execution of the design, which in the opinion of competent 
judges, entirely harmonizes, and is in accordance with the antiquity 
and character of the Building in which it stands. — I am, Sir, your 
obedient Servant, C. B. HENVILLE. 

Portsmouth, 20^. November, 1828. 

The font is very ancient, adorned with quatrefoils and coats of arms, 
or rather shields. In the possession of the Rev. C. B. Henville, is 
a magnificent architectural elevation of the interior of this church, 
taken from the rails of the altar, by Mr. Adams, and a Lithogra- 
phic Print of the chancel has been published by Mr. H. Ubsdale. 

The church is matted throughout, warmed by stoves, and with 
the elegant arrangement of the chandeliers, reading-desks, &c. 
always commands admiration ; above the pulpit, which has been 
lowered by the removal of a kind of wooden dome, is a large figure 
of an angel with a trumpet. During the last twenty-five years the 
interior of the church has been much improved and embellished by 
new chandeliers of large size and richly gilt, the seats and pews re- 
paired ; above those appropriated to the Corporation, is a very large 
sculpture of the British arms, with appropriate figures of angels 
supporting it. The galleries in the church were erected by subscrip- 
tion, and are still private property ; and the fronts being rounded off 
instead of resting on the central pillars, renders the church very 
light, and has an elegant effect. 

The organ, a remarkably fine instrument, was erected by subscrip- 



13 

tion, in 1718, as appears by the date in front, and from the sub- 
scription list written in letters of gold, still preserved in the gallery. 
The organ front is very highly adorned with gilding, and a large 
statue of David with bis harp on the summit. 

The subscription for this organ amounted to six hundred pounds, 
and it was opened with much solemnity ; a sermon being preached 
by Mr. Ward the Vicar, which seTmon was repeated before the 
bishop of Winchester and printed. The publication of it called 
forth the talent of Mr. Norman the presbyterian minister, who* 
preached against church music. 

ST. THOMAS'S TOWER. 

Over the entrance gate of the church, at the western front of the 
tower, is a bold sculpture, with the date 1691. Previous to the 
erection of the tower, a narrow buttress, at the corner of the south- 
ern transept, served for a belfry. It was opened a few years since, 
and was found to consist of a circular staircase, with two narro*v 
passages to the summit. 1702, the inhabitants raised a cupola on 
the summit of the tower, which is now one hundred and twenty 
feet high ; in the lanthorn is a small bell, having on its side an ar- 
morial bearing, " Quarterly, a greyhound rampant, three castles tur- 
retted," which was formerly rung (by a man who sat constantly in 
the lanthorn) on the appearance of a ship in the offing. It is now 
used as a fire-bell. Above the lanthorn is most appropriately placed 
as a vane, a richly gilt ship, completely rigged, about six feet in 
length. It was erected in 1710, as appears from an inscription of 
the flag of the foremast, with the letters M : C : E : 

DIMENSIONS OF THE SHIP ON THE TOWER. 

The keel three feet long : from stem to stern three feet five 
inches : from stem to head four inches : in the waist eight inches 
wide : at the fore chains ten inches wide : the bowsprit one foot 
four inches: the fore mast two feet ten inches: mainmast three 
feet five inches : mizzen mast two feet ten inches : the ensign 
flag two feet two inches : the ship is of copper six feet nine inches 
long, from the bowsprit to the end of the ensign. It was taken 
down and regilt in May 1775. 

In the dome is a small chamber, which is lighted by a number of 
small windows. 

" From this giddy height (one hundred and twenty feet) a Mr. 
Murray once leaped, in a species of parashute ; he reached the 



14 

ground in safety, but was killed at Chichester Cathedral, in attempt- 
ing* alike feat of madness." 

From this tower a Panoramic View is presented, equal to any in 
the kingdom. The trouble of mounting 200 steps will be amply 
repaid, especially if the tide be high in the harbour. A traveller 
from Italy witnessing the prospect, a few years since, exclaimed in 
extacy — Venice ! Venice ! this is my own Venice ! 

In the cupola is a very musical peal of eight bells ; five were pre- 
sented by Prince George of Denmark, at the particular request of 
Sir George Rook. They were removed from an old watch-tower in 
Dover Castle : and, after a short time, being recast, three more were 
added at the expense of the parish. 

" The estimated expense of the seventh bell was 24/. The money 
actually paid 45/. Is. 10c?. including 5/. to a professor of music for 
proving it to be well-toned. It is, however, considered by the fra- 
ternity of bell-ringers to be very defective. 

INSCRIPTIONS AND DATES ON THE BELLS. 

On the first, " Prosperity to all our benefactors, A. R. anno 
1703 ;" on the second, " Peace and good neighbourhood, A. R. 
1703;" on the third, "God save Queen Anne, A. R. 1703;" 
on the fourth, " I was cast by Joshua Kipling, in the year 1737, 
John Prior, William Snook, churchwardens;" on the fifth, " Abra 
Rudhill, of Gloucester, cast us, 1703 ;" on the sixth, " God save 
our Queen, Prince, and fleet, Anno Domini, 1703 ;" on the seventh, 
«« Thos. Mears, of London, 1794, William Butler and John Parker 
churchwardens;" on the eighth bell, " W. Bartlett, R. Phelps, fecit, 
1730, Messieurs James Yeatman and Nicholas Horwood church- 
wardens. We good people all, to prayers do call ; we honour to 
King, and brides joy do bring ; good tidings we tell, and ring the 
dead's knell." On a copper-plate in the framework is the follow- 
ing inscription : " The frame and hanging the bells and chimes 
were made by Samuel Shepherdson, of Spoondon, nere Derby, 
James White, Samuel Henty, wardens, Anno Domini, 1703, of the 
same year." The clock (of large size) and the chimes were given 
by W. Brandon, Esq. 1703. In a part of the tower is a mutilated 
bust, said to be that of Charles the Second, taken from some part of 
the ancient church. 

Previous to the erection of the dial plates of the clock, the win- 
dows of the belfry were much larger than at present. These plates 
were erected on April 1, 1789, by Mr. J. Irish, of Havant, at an 
expense of 58/. 8$. on the suggestion of Mr. Lang, churchwarden. 



15 

The Churchyard, which contains many fine tombs, was enclosed 
by brick walls in 1645. A square stone, bearing the date, and the 
name Steven Wheller, is in Red-lion-lane. The side gates and 
piers were erected in 1768. The gates in Church-lane were erected, 
in 1698, by Colonel John Gibson, Lieutenant-Governor of the town, 
whose name appears carved on one of the stone ornaments at the 
top of the pier. This name was discovered in 1826, ou cleaning the 
stone, the pier being at that time rebuilt. The elm-trees, on the 
northern side, were planted by Mr. Moses Hawker ; the smaller 
ones by Mr. Thomas Slight, to replace a fine row, capriciously de- 
stroyed some years since. 1731, the porch at the chancel erected. 
1809, this porch rebuilt. 1750, 1787, 1809, the tower and cupola 
thoroughly repaired. 1750, the north gallery in the church erected. 
1826, the churchyard lowered, and its appearance much improved. 

SALARIES &c, IN 1833. 

40/. for organist ; 20/. to singers ; 12/. for preparatory sermons ; 61. 
10s. to organ blower ; 20/. for lighting the evening service ; two 
guineas annual subscription to the Bartlett's building society, and 
5/. tor tolling the morning and evening curfew. 

DONATIONS TO THE CHURCH. 

1230, Thomas Eynolf, of Portsmouth, left " to the altar of St. 
Thomas the Martyr fourpence, to the fabric of the church fourpence s 
for ever, yearly ; to the canons and priests various sums ; to the 
belfry of St. Thomas twelve-pence ; and for lighting the image of 
the altar of St. Mary in the church of St. Thomas at Portsmouth, 
one penny yearly, for ever; and sixpence on the feast of St. 
Michael yearly, to the church of St. Thomas. 

1615, Sir John Burlace, Governour of Portysmuth, did gyve at the 
baptym of his child, fowr hangings to the church, one for the pulpit, 
one for the communion table, one for the Gouernor's seat, and one 
for the Mayor's ; — too of them cloth of gold, and one of them em- 
broidered on both sides, and one of them red velvet; they were 
opened thys 24th of August, 1615. 

1633, John Trigger, churchwarden, and Roger Pricy, did cast 
the fourth bell, Anno Domini 1632 ; and a new bibell, which cost 
thirte shillings ; and a new table cloth for communion which cost 
thirteen shillings. 

1636, Inventory — twobookesof comon prayer; Bishop Jewell's 
works ; one silver chalice wy a cover to him ; two pewter flaggons 
for the communion table ; two surplices, two diap tabel cloths, and 



16 

two napkins of diap ; one tabei cloth of branched damaske being red 
and yellow ; one cushion and cloth belonging to the pulpit of the 
same damaske ; one pall, the bed of it cloth of gold : two fair cush- 
ions of cloth of gold, laced wy gold lace ; one needle-work cushion 
for the pulpit, wrought on both sydes wy gold silk and siluer ; one 
cushion for the comunion tabel, of red veluet embroaided wy gold. 
These four cushions were giuen by the worthy Knight, Sir John 
Burlace, to remain successively in the said church (parish) for ever, 
for the use of the said parish church, and not otherwise. Four 
bells in the tower, one saint's bell on the top of the church, two 
small bells for the quarter clock, one greate clock, one quarter clock, 
and one pair of chimes. 

1687, Nov. 12, this day a certain parcell of plate (the particular 
pieces whereof are underneath mentioned) was presented to the 
mayor, alderman, and burgesses of the Borough of Portesmuth, in 
their Town-hall assembled ; wych plate was freely given by his 
gracious Majesty, our present Sovereign Lord, King James the 
Second, for the use of the parish church of Portesmuth, and is as 
follows : — Imprimis, two fair silver flaggons, plain ; one fair silver 
chalice ; two fair large silver platters; one small silver platter ; the 
v hole parcel weighing one hundred and nineteen ounces. J. Grundy, 
mayor, Isaac Betts, Thos. Hancock, John Blose, Thos. Heather, 
Vicar, and John Taylor, churchwarden. 

PRESENT COMMUNION PLATE. 

oz. dwt. 

Two Flagons 72 15 

Two Chalices 35 

Two Patens 26 15 

Two Plates (1725) 30 16 

Two Ditto (1804) 21 15 

Two Ditto (1810) 30 10 

Two Ditto (1812) 30 3 

One Wine Strainer 1 8 

*■ 1725, two silver plates for receiving the offerings, added by sub- 
scription." — We find, on the under surface of one of the chalices, 
the following inscription : " Alder John Moth, his gift to the church 
of Tangier, November 10, 1672;" on the front a crest, three tigers 
heads and a star, surmounted by a helmet, a wreath surrounding. 

1693, one large crimson velvet communion cloth with gold fringe, 
and two embroidered cushions, covered with similar velvet, given by 
Thomas Ridge, Esq. 

1694, one crimson velvet pulpit cloth, and cushion and cloth for 
the pulpit and reading-desk, with gold fringe and tassels, given by 
Nicholas Hedger, Esq, (1838, these are still in use.) One large 



17 

tranche t>f candlesticks in the church, a gift from the Hon. Sit 
John Gibson, Knt., Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth ; two brass 
branches of candlesticks, hanging in the body of the church, pre- 
sented to the parish by Captain John Suffield, with two brass scones 
for the pulpit and reading-desk," (these were exchanged, in March 
1806, for those in present use, the old ones not being large enough 
to light the church.) 1828. New rails round the altar put up by a 
subscription of sixty pounds. 

On February 1, 1705, it was proposed to establish a lecture on 
Sunday evenings ; that the churchwardens should light the church, 
and pay the expense from the church rates. This led to a long 
correspondence with the Vicar, the Rev. Henry Oglander, the 
Bishop of Winton, and others. On April 19, 1791, permission was 
granted by the bishop and principals of St. Mary's College {in a let- 
ter to the vicar). The lecturer was to be appointed by the vicar, sub- 
ject to the license of the diocesan; the bishop having the power to 
put an end to the lectures when he should think fit, but not of com- 
pelling the parish to continue them, if the subscriptions should fall 
off. The clergyman to receive eighty pounds per annum for his ser- 
vices ; the organist, eight guineas ; the clerk, six guineas ; the sex- 
ton, three ; and the necessary attendants, seven. These lectures 
commenced on Sunday evening, May 1, 1798. 

AN IMPERFECT LIST OF THE VICARS. 

1260, Thomas Singleton ; Nicholas Damyas. 1454, John Tone 
to whom the endowment, in the time of Pope Nicholas the Fifth, 
was granted. 1657, Henry Bartlett, omit August 25th. 1662, Mr, 
Loton. 1673, B. Burgess, A.M., the Nonconformist, who died 
Nov. 24 ; he lies buried in the chancel, in front of the small doorway. 
1674, Thomas Heather, A.M., chaplain to Charles the Second, and 
whose portrait is still to be found in the libraries of the curious. Ob„ 
Nov. 30, 1696, and was buried in the church. 

1696, William Ward, A.M., presented to the living under the fol- 
lowing circumstances : — 

Westminster, Jan. 2, 1696. 
Being very much sollicited by the Governour and officers of Portsmouth for 
your favour to present Mr. Ward for the vicarage which is vacant and in your 
disposall, and knowing very well how ritt he is for that station, I cannot but 
earnestly recommend him to you, and am very sensible that the kindness which 
the Governour and officers designe for him will turn to the future advantage of 
your worthy society, for the prosperity of which 1 dayley pray, so my endeav- 
ours shall never be wanting to promote it. I heartily recommend you to God's 
blessing and protection, and am yours affectionately, 

To the College of Winchester. P. WINCH EST. 

I 



18 

To the parish of Portsmouth he proved a troublesome, meddling 
priest, not allowing the parishioners to meet in church, but com- 
pelled them to hold their vestries on a tombstone in the church- 
yard, he is buried under the altar. 

1725, Anthony Bliss, LL. B. 1748, William Langbaine, A.M. 
This gentleman went into retirement, and refused to see any one 
•or many years. 1749, Walter Bigg and Henry Tayler, A. M. 
(mentioned with honour in Dr. Parr's works.) 1790, Henry 
Oglander, B. D. 1804, Henry Sissmore, L.L.B. 1815, Charles 
Brune Henville, A. M. &c. 

At the side of the chancel (which is the property of the College 
of Winchester) is a small vestry, neatly fitted up. The chancel, and 
two houses at the east corner of Oyster-street, in the High-street, 
form part of the Stubbington property. 

A few years since, two boys, during the night, kindled a fire in 
this vestry, and under the communion-table, with a view to destroy 
the church ; the diabolical attempt luckily failed. They were con- 
demned to death at Winchester, but respited. 

The present new and commodious vicarage, in the centre of the 
High-street, was erected by the present vicar, being commenced on 
the first of September, 1826, finished in March 1828. The old and 
decayed house on the same site, was built in the year 1690, by the 
Rev. Mr. Heather, vicar, 

In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of Pope Nicholas the fourth, A.D. 
1291, the valuation stands — Vicarage of Portesmewe also Portes- 
mswe, £6 13s. 4d. The tenth or taxation, 13s. Ad. and there ap- 
pears this note in the margin ; church of Portesmewe, is the chapel 
of Portesmewe, taxed in the first portion of this Deanery ? 

In the Valuation of Henry the Eighth the amount stands thus — 

VICARIA PORTYSMOUTH, 

Nicholas Damyas modo Rector. Rectoria appropriated ^ 
prioratu de South wick in com south Valet in firma terr. f 5 x 
vocat glebe land deeimis oblationilus et aliis easualibusf" 

ut p. per dem 3 

Qualternu Pepris et valet clare 5 x 

X inde : xi 

The Vicarage is valued in the king's books at 61. 13s. Ad. Pa- 
tron, the Warden and Scholars, clerks, at St. Mary's-college, near 
Winchester. 

From the ecclesiastical commission 1832. Revenues of the Parish 
and Vicarage of Portsmouth. Population, Eight Thousand and 
Seventy-eight. Stipend of Curate £150. Other allowances £66. 
Making a Total of £216. 



19 
SERVICES. 

Three complete services on Sundays, with sermons. Prayers 
twice a week ; on every Saint Day, and on the first Friday in each 
month, full evening service, and sermon. 

GROSS AMOUNT OF INCOME. 

£ s. d. 

From Glebe Lands, Rental « 24 

From Houses on Glebe Lands 313 6 

From allowance for Monthly Service (since abolished) . . 12 

From Easter offerings and Michaelmas dues 16 19 2 

Dividends in the funds 9 11 

From Ordnance for Barrack yard, Colewort and build- } 

ing on Glebe Land > 2 

Surplice and other fees 154 14 

Pew rent for 3rd. Service according to Act of Parliament 80 

612 10 2 

PAYMENTS 

£ s. d. 

Tenths 13 10 

Land Tax 6 7 

Synodals 2 6 

Procuration 1 7 



7 4 11 
Curate's Salary, &c 216 



223 4 11 

Repairs of Houses Annually, about 50 

Mortgage till 1846 56 10 

329 14 11 



THE ROYAL CHURCH OF THE GARRISON. 

The only remains of " Domus Dei," situate at the side of the 
Parade, in a slanting direction, has been lately thoroughly repair- 
ed ; the ceiling heightened and rendered flat, as far as the chancel : 
this is built in the Saxon pointed style ; the groining of the roof 
springing from pilasters supported on ponderous mullions. The 
nave is supported by ten octagonal pillars, from the capitals of which 
spring plain pointed arches, dividing this part of the building into 
three aisles ; a single rib springs from mullions between each arch 
some resembling roses, and one being an exact resemblance to the 
head of a monk in the chancel of St. Thomas's Church. 

This church is in length from the east end to the west, one hun- 
dred and twenty-two feet, and in breadth in the inside forty-five 
feet.* 



* George Huish, August 21, 1752. 



20 

The altar-piece represents Moses and Aaron in pontificals, pre- 
senting the tables of the law. This was a few years since removed, 
under the idea that it concealed a niche containing the high altar of 
the Catholic faith ; this was not the case, but in a small niche on 
the right side, now concealed by wainscoting, was discovered the 
basin for holy water, &c. Queen Anne bestowed the communion 
plate, which is very handsome, consisting of two large flagons, two 
embossed cups with covers, and a dish of large size ; and on the 
cloth used to cover the table, was emblazoned a view of Lisbon, 
and the royal arms of Portugal ; probably a gift at the marriage of 
Charles the Second with the Infanta of Portugal, and in commemo- 
ration of which there was formerly inscribed over the door-way 
CAROLVS II. A : REG : XXXIIII. 

The windows in the chancel, and the great window above the al- 
tar, are adorned with plain pillars, having round capitals. The 
Governor's seat is decorated with a profusion of carving in wood, as 
are many of the pews. On a medallion in front appear the initials 
in gold A. R. Her Majesty's arms were formerly in the ceiling, on 
a very large painting. In this church are many mural monuments 
worthy of notice, to the memories of naval and military officers. 
The cemetery is in front of the building, enclosed by high walls ; 
it formerly extended over a large part of the Parade, in the forma- 
tion of which, and laying the foundations of the new Ramparts, in 
1733-4, a large quantity of human bones were disturbed. On the 
removal of the Government-house, a portion of the chancel of this 
church was exposed, and exhibited three large Saxon windows clos- 
ed up, but which corresponded with those of the opposite side ; 
through one, a passage had been made to the Governor's pew or 
gallery ; below was a very small conventual doorway, closed by 
brickwork, and a small buttress in the angle with loopholes. 

May 2, 1778, his Majesty George III, and the Queen came in 
Portsmouth ten minutes after one o'clock at noon ; and on Sunday 
morning went to Portsmouth chapel, where the Rev. G. Cuthbert 
preached, taking his text from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy* 
and the thirteenth verse : the Rev. George Cuthbert was chaplain 
to the King, &c. alderman of Portsmouth, and several times mayor 
of this his native place. 

1811, May. Magnificent obsequies (according to the Catholic 
faith) of Count Aimable Rutin, French General, who died on board 
the Gorgon of his wounds ; the Rev. F. De la Rue officiating, all 
the troops in the Garrison attending, and the cannon firing minute 
gens. 



21 
CONSECRATION OF MILITARY STANDARDS. 

This religious ceremony — a relic of the middle ages, is still oc- 
casionally performed with much pomp in this ehapel. On Wednes- 
day, May 29, 1799, after the proper services for the Restoration, 
the Rev. J. Davies, A. B. of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, consecrated 
the Standards presented to the Royal Garrison Volunteers by Mr. 
W. Garrett, and preached a Sermon on the occasion, [the standards of 
the Portsmouth Volunteers were consecrated in St. Thomas's church 
by Mr. Bussell.] A pamphlet detailing this circumstance was printed 
at the time. In 1816, a second example took place the colours of 
the thirty -sixth Regiment being consecrated with much religious 
and military pomp, by the Rev. S. Leggatt, Chaplain to the forces. 
The new standards of the Royal Marines presented by the Lord High 
Admiral [William IV.] were at the time not consecrated. 

Deed relating to the Hospital of Domus Dei, of Portsmouth. 

" To all the Sons of Holy Mother Church, Master Alanus de Stokes, De- 
puty Archdeacon of Peter, Lord Bishop of Winchester, Greeting in the Lord. 
Be it known to all, that every controversy argued hefore any Judges, between 
the Prior and Convent of Southwick on one part, and the Master and Bro- 
thers of the Hospital of God's House of Portsmouth on the other, concerning 
the jurisdiction of the Parish Church of Portsmouth, is amicably settled after 
this form before us : in the aforesaid Hospital, Divine Service may be cele- 
brated, according to the right of their Parish Church of Portsmouth, by two 
priests, as also by the Governor of the Hospital, if he be a priest; and rf any 
foreign priest visiting the same for the purpose of seeing kinsman or relation, 
shall wish, it shall be lawful for him to assist at the same ; and they may have 
two bells, not exceeding the weight of the bells of the Mother Church, which 
shall ring at Matins, and Missals, and Vespers, and for the Dead. And after 
the bells of the new Mother Church have rung, the said Brothers shall not re- 
ceive the Parishioners of Portsmouth to confession, nor to communion of the 
body of Christ, unless any sick person shall wish and particularly ask confes- 
sion of any priest of the Hospital (the requisite consent of the parish priest 
being obtained, it shall not be denied him.) They shall not receive any stran- 
ger to confession publicly in Lent, except the brothers, sisters, family, sick 
persons at the time, and inmates. Nevertheless if any stranger shall seek ad- 
vice from any priest of the Hospital, it shall be lawful to receive him privately. 
Moreover on Sundays, and on the eight great festivals, namely, the Birth-day 
of our Lord, the Epiphany, the Purification, the Assumption of the Blessed 
Mary, the Ascension of our Lord, the Birth-day of the Blessed Mary, and the 
Feast of All Saints, the Brothers of the aforesaid Hospital shall not receive 
the Parishoners of Portsmouth. If however, it shall happen, that any of the 
aforesaid Parishioners shall come to hear divine service on the aforesaid festi- 
vals, or on Sundays, at the aforesaid Hospital, they shall be admitted, and 
their offering, if any be brought, shall be restored whole and entire to the 
Mother Church, under the penalty hereunder expressed, unless the said Pa- 
rishioners shall first have made satisfaction to the aforesaid Mother Church. 

" Moreover it shall not be lawful for any one of the said Hospital to enter 
ships, or give Benediction, or read the Gospel or beg alms after reading it, 
the Gospel being read and rites performed by the Chaplain of the Mother 
Church. Moreover the aforesaid Canons agree, that the Hospital shall have a 
Cemetery for the Brothers and also for the Sisters of the said Hospital, and 
for families and poor persons and others dying in the said Hospital : but we 
mean Brothers and Sisters after this reading: — those who have put on the 



22 

same habit, and have put it off, or those who have bequeathed their estates to 
the said Hospital. Nevertheless, if any stranger shall chuse to be interred at 
the said hospital, it shall be lawful for them to receive them, provided the 
body shall be first carried to the Mother Church, and mass celebrated there. 
And be it known, that it becomes the Parishioners of Portsmouth to leave 
their first legacy to the Mother Church and the Parish Priest should hold the 
Will of the Parishioners safe from loss ; not that the Mother Church will suf- 
fer by this concession, the brothers of the said hospital shall pay to the Mo- 
ther Church every year, namely, five shillings at the Feast of St. Michael, 
five shillings at the Circumcision of our Lord, at the Passover five shillings, 
and at the feast of St. John the Baptist five shillings ; and for the greater se- 
curity the said brothers have taken their corporal oaths, the Evangelists being 
touched ; bound themselves under a stipulated penalty, to wit, forty shillings 
to be paid to the prior and convent, if any crime be committed; but if after 
the sinning against this canon law they shall not give satisfaction within eight 
days, the sin committed is acquitted without contradiction to the said prior and 
convent. 

" And that all these things may be understood on the part of the prior and 
convent, this deed is executed in the first year after the decease of Stephen 
Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and in testimony of which the parties 
present have strengthened the deed with their seals ; and, the Lord Bishop of 
Winchester being absent, we, by his authority, confirm and sign our seal, toge- 
ther with the signet of Master B. Archive of the same place. — These being 
the witnesses, Master A. de P^blesburn, Master R. — Canon ; Master J. Wal- 
ingford, R, Deacon of Winchester, W. Chapel, Deacon, and many others." 

GOD'S HOUSE, PORTSMOUTH. 

According to the writings of Matthew Paris, 1238, Peter de la 
Roche, or de Rupibus, was the founder of the Hospital of Ports- 
mouth, in the west south-west part of the town, about 1205. Dug- 
dale says — " Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, founded at 
Portsmouth, in the reign of King John, a famous hospital called 
God's House, which was dedicated to Saints John the Baptist, and 
Nicholas." Camden follows the same account, and Speed adds, 
" a college here founded by the same Bishop," of which, however no 
other mentiou can be found. After the death of the founder, the 
house according to the Rivers manuscripts, remained in the patro- 
nage of John de Pontissara ; and William de Wrotham, Archdeacon 
of Taunton, bestowed on it as a free gift, certain messuages and 
houses in Hants. In September, 1219, Henry the Third commanded 
the Sheriff of Hampshire to preserve to the brothers of the hospital 
at Portsmouth, the fee farm rental of lands in Selburne ten shillings 
yearly, as bequeathed to them by Emeric de Sassy, before his de- 
parture to the Holy Land, and in the fourth year of his reign he 
orders the Sheriff to retain the issues of lands in Burton, given as an 
eleemosynary donation by Emeric de Sassy to the hospital, the first 
being in possession of the Templar Knights, and the latter in the 
keeping of Hugo de Vivonia. Proceedings were also instituted 
before the itinerant Justices, respecting certain possessions in Win- 
chester and Portsmouth, and these proceedings were repeated in the 



23 

twentieth and thirty-seventh, and again in the fifty-second year of 
Henry the Third, concerning their possessions, settling disputes be- 
tween them, the Vicar of Portsmouth, and the convent of Southwick, 
and also regarding their manor of Lafham. In the thirty-fifth year 
of Edward the first, Roger de Harwedon was Custos of the Hospital, 
and they had granted to them the right of free warren in lands in 
Portsmouth, Froderington, Fratton, and Feldushe. In the tenth 
year of Edward the Second, ecclesiastical proceedings were held 
regarding the advowson of the Hospital being in the grant of the 
Bishop of Winchester. By a deed in 1272, from Richard le Cen- 
ceror, of Portsmouth, to God and the Church of the blessed Mary of 
Southwick, the brethren of God's House received yearly, for ever, 
on the feast of St. Michael, for a piece of land granted to the con- 
vent, three silver pennies. In 1276, by a deed from Robert of St. 
Dionysius, of Portsmouth, to Ada de Stobeton, the said brothers 
received for a house and its appurtenances in the High-street, four 
silver shillings, for ever, on the feast of St. John the Baptist. In 
the twenty-second year of Edward the Third, the head of the hospi- 
tal assumed the title of Prior, and they received five pounds yearly 
from the lands of William Overton, in le Frenchmore, near Brigh- 
ston ; and about this period the brethren petitioned the King for 
his favour, regarding the thirtieth and fifteenths due from them to 
the Exchequer, and the King, granting their prayer, they besought 
his brief to the Exchequer, in extenuation. About this time also 
Richard Wykeham was succeeded by his brother as Warden, the 
latter being principal in 1378. These two were brothers of William 
of Wykeham, who in his will, dated 1404, writes — " I bequeath to 
the hospital of St. Nicholas, at Portsmouth, one suit of vestments 
and a chalice." In the taxation of Pops Nicholas the fourth, the 
Prior is taxed four shillings and nine-pence halfpenny for his posses- 
sions at Burghege, being his tenths on two pounds eight shillings. 
On the suppression of the Templar knights, Uggeton, a manor in the 
Isle of Wight, was given to God's House — an account of this may 
be seen in Worsley's history, In the reign of Henry the Eighth 
Leland thus describes it, " There is also in the west south-west part 
of the town a fair hospital, some time erected by Peter de Rupibus, 
Bishop of Winchester, wherein were twelve poor men, and yet six 
be in it." — Shortly after this the house was visited by the harpies 
called Commissioners, and in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, appears their 
report, " Hospital of St. Nicholas, Portsmouth, Johnlncent, Master, 
valuation in fee farm, rental of lands, together with the spiritualities 
and temporalities rendered to the Commissioners and attested bv 



24 

them, 33/. 19*. 5d. ; and by the act of suppression, it became vested 
in the crown as the residence of the Governor, and the lands passed 
into the possession of Lord Powerscourt. 

Ancient Seal of the Hospital called i God's House ' at Ports- 
mouth. — The seal is of the usual monastic or longoval shape sur- 
rounded by the legend, " Sigillum comune de domus dei de Portes- 
muth." At the upper part is a hand projecting from a cloud, emble- 
matical of the first person of the Trinity, and still used as a masonic 
emblem ; below this on either side, the sun and moon, the latter re- 
presented as a horned crescent, enclosing the profile of the human 
countenance ; between these and in the centre of the seal, a large 
and bold cross, of the kind called in heraldry, a cross flory, on each 
side of which are two angels worshipping and bearing a ribbon or 
scroll on which the cross rests. This represents the second person 
of the Trinity, according to the papal ceremony of the exaltation 
of the cross, and its grandeur is exemplified by the angelic figures 
in the act of adoration, and its altitude being superior even to the 
sun and moon. At the lower part appears a roll of vellum indicat- 
ing the holy scriptures, the writings produced by the inspiration of 
the third person or Holy Spirit. 

VISITORS IN ANCIENT TIMES. 

1221. Henry the Third, with all his earls, barons, and knights, 
and one of the finest armies ever raised in England assembled at 
Portsmouth. 1231. King Henry landed at Portsmouth from his ex- 
pedition to France. — March 15, 1242. King Henry, with his Queen, 
Prince Richard his brother, seven earls, three hundred knights, and 
thirty hogsheads of silver, embarked at this port for Guienne. — Au- 
gust, 1253 King Henry— May, 1346. King Edward III.— July, 1386, 
the Duke of Lancaster embarked at Portsmouth for Spain : he 
carried with him Constantia of Castile, his wife, with his two daugh- 
ters Philippa and Catherina ; King Richard II. and his Queen 
accompanied them to Portsmouth, and wishing them success, pre- 
sented them with two gold crowns. 1445. Margaret of Anjou, at- 
tended by the Marchioness of Suffolk and a large assemblage of 
nobility, landed at Portsmouth, and proceeded to the priory of 
Southwick, where she was married to Henry VI. on the 11th of 
April. 

The following Antiquarian hoax was Published some few years ago. 

" Furst cum foure beadils wythe staues to cleare the waye, than 



25 

tne wardene k broders of senet nycholas hauynge crosses inne 
they re hondes, al dressyd inne kyr tills of white satten furryd withe 
shankes, and blacke hudes, than rna'ter maier henrie de labernea.u& 
his brotherne onne grete horses rychlie arraied inne robes lynte 
withe lettese, withe p'tie colored tunycs reachynge to theyre knees, 
tnakynge togetheyre a mooste goodlye showe, folowed by manie of 
the inhabytaunts of Portesmuth her foloynge, henrie bianchii, hughe 
raggye, rychaTd cooptore, robarte molendine,stephene instyce, peter 
coperas, ada sonewyne, robarte clarke, eadmunde clarke, adam de 
wanstede, herberte manniet, waryne le mercir, martyne pol!ard s 
iohn le maye, hughe estmar, wyllyam de la lanade, iohne le draper 5 
phillipe sonewyne, iohn de la berne, iohn le chiiche, stephene car- 
nifex, thoraas la warte, galtryde de bemunde, herberte de la barre, 
than twoe beadils wythe hem, and heraulties onne each syde blow- 
ynge slughoornes, than the priour k broders of domus dei twoe by 
twoe, chauntyine godlye psaulmes to the moche joie and contente 
of all p'sente, k lastlye came foure beadils wythe flags and pennons 
blowynge slughoornes, folowed by as manie more deckyd inne crym- 
sone bearyinge anlaces ; the companie wente downe ye hyghe stret 
untyll theye cam to ye chirche of senct thomas, and than ye heraul- 
tes blewe theyre slughoornes, and than maister maier & hys companie 
gott off theyre horses, and fell onne theyre knees, and than ye 
fryars & prestes chauntyd a hymme for the soule of ye blessyd 
inartir & than theye crossyd hernsilves k wente onne wardes, than 
theye went doun senct thomasse stret k so doun Kynges stret, Suth 
stret k Doun stret k than vppe alonge ye hyghe stret, to the Coorte 
Jious wch ys oposite ye hospitallof senct nycholas, wher theye drewe 
vppe inne ye priours close ther ; & fourthwythe ye heraulties blewe 
ye hoornes k than theye wente acrosse ye close to the hospital! of 
domus dei k ther hearde a godlie sermon delyvered by the preste 
maister galfryde whoe endyd it inne theis woordes — for he ys above 
all thynges and by net he all thynges and wt inne all thynges, he ys 
above all thynges in goidynge, bynethe all thynges in vppe beryng 
wtinne all thynges in fulfillynge; he is large in manie maner wyses, 
furst heys large inne wordes & wordlyche thynges, in so rno che that 
he frelyche geveth wordlych goodes as well to wykkyd menne as 
to goode menne, he ys large of en'lastyng goodestto all that wolleth 
ryghffullyche, al so he woll goue vs grete medefor he seythe hymselfe 
in the gospelle ' p'mum <juerite dui et a'a adicientVob,' that ys to 
sayynge furst biddeth ye kyngdom of heuen and al goodes shall 
come to zow. Oure swete lorde Jhu est geue vs fort worshyp hym 
and sotofouth oure neygborwes and so fort meketh vs selues, also that 

K 



26 

we maye for the worschippe that we dothe to god her on erthe be y 

worschyped vnne heuen, and for oure owne mekenesse and lowenese 

that we haueth her on erthe mowe by hyzed in the blis of heuen 

amen, amen for charitie — and that after thys they wente inne to ye 

Coorte hous & feasted & made merrie vntyll complyn & than theye 

party d & oftsoones inhaby taunts mette togetheyr inne hoywynshurge 

grene k plaid & made bonfyres al nyghte longe. 

Land belonging to the Hospital of Domus Dei, in the several 

furlongs and common fields of Portsmouth, amounting to seventy 

acres. 

Catelife Furlonge, God's House, Portesmuth iij di Aker 

Chilmer Furlonge North ditto j Stich 

Black Thome Furlonge (South) ditto di Aker 

God's House Furlonge [North] ditto vj Akers 

Full Sea Furlonge [West] ditto di Aker 

Foutorne Furlonge [West] ditto j Aker 

Wett Furlonge [East] ditto iij Akers 

Water Furlonge [West] ditto iij di Akers 

Peckshall Furlonge [West] ditto vj Akers 

Kingwelrose Furlonge [West] ditto j Aker 

Newgate Furlonge [North to the Railes] ditto j di Aker 

Short Broome Furlonge [South] ditto di Aker 

Mill Stile Furlonge (West) ditto di Aker 

St. Andrew Furlonge (East) ditto viij di Akers 

Shovell Furlonge (West; ditto di Aker 

Lake Furlonge (East) ditto - vrj di Akers 

Kingwell Furlonge (North) ditto iij Akers 

Close Furlonge (East) ditto di Aker 

Reddish Furlonge (North) di Aker 

Gore Furlonge (South) ditto j di Aker 

Lake Furlonge (West) ditto v di Akers 

Pease Furlonge (West) ditto ij Akers 

Copner Furlonge (South) ditto , di Aker 

Bramble Furlonge [West] ditto ij di Akers 

Stobington Furlonge [North] ditto j di Aker 

North Streete Furlonge [North] ditto ij Akers 

South Streete Furlonge [North] ditto iij di Akers 

Abram Furlonge [West] ditto j di Aker 

White bedde Furlonge (West) ditto j Aker 

Curges Crofte ditto j di Aker 

In the Lansdowne collection of manuscripts Nos. 69 and 72, may 
be found estimates of Popynjaye, the Surveyor of Portsmouth, bear- 
ing date July 24, 1581-82, for the charges of repairing the Queen's 
house at Portsmouth, called " God's House " and other buildings, 
and converting it into a residence for the Governor ; and in No. 116 
may be found " the articles and instructions to be kept and observ- 
ed-jby Richard Popynjaye, Surveyor of Portsmouth ; this last is in 
the Strype collection." 

MARRIAGE OF CHARLES II. 

" As soon as the King had notice of the Queen's landing, he sent 
to welcome her Majesty on shore and followed himself next day, and 
upon the twenty first the King married the Queen, in the present 
chamber of his Majesty's house — there was a rail across the upper 



27 

part of the room, in which entered only the King and Queen, the 
Bishop of London, the Embassador and Sir Richard Fanshaw : in 
the other part of the room there were many of the nobility and ser- 
vants to their Majesties — the Bishop of London declared them mar- 
ried in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and then they 
caused the ribbons her Majesty wore, to be cut in little pieces and 
as far as they could every one had some. 

In honey- moon 
Thus wrote the King to Clarendon : 

" Portsmouth, May 21, eight in the morning. 
Arrived here yesterday at noon; 
Went to my dear wife's room as soon 
As I had shifted. Mot each grace 
Of fairest Venus in her face : 
But still her eyes I must admire — 
They're excellent, and full of fire. 
Her conversation easy, — wit 
And voice, as might a Queen befit ; 
And wonder would be raised in thee 
Could you our good acquaintance see. 
Certain our humours well accord . 
She'll prove a lovely wife, my Lord! 
With weighty matters so opprest, 
Seek from my Nobleman the rest. 

" C. REX." 

VISIT OF KING JAMES THE SECOND. 

1672, September, we found all the way full of people, the women 
in their best dress, in expectation of seeing the King pass, which 
he did riding on horseback, we found the Mayor and Aldermen with 
their Mace, and in their peculiar robes, standing at the entrance of 
the fort, where the mayor made a speech to the King. 

" The guns were fired and three thousand troops lined the streets 
and platform to God's house, the governor's residence ; the King 
viewed the fortifications (which are very strong and a noble key,) 
the Ship Dock of which Sir R. Beach is commissioner, and after- 
wards was entertained with a magnificent dinner, Slingsby the 
Lieutenant Governor, with all the gentlemen of his train sitting down 
at table with him. In the evening I found the King putting on his 
boots in the town hall adjoining the house where he dined, when 
having saluted some ladies who came to kiss his hand, he took 
horse for Winchester." 

Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark, resided in this 
house. 

" The hall of the Government-house is artificially hung round 
with arms of all sorts, like the hall and keep at Windsor." We 
possess a small drawing of the mansion previous to the command of 
Sir W. Pitt, who altered the external appearance materially, as did 



28 

also the Earl of Pembroke : it was for many years uninhabited,, 
except a small part retained for the Town-major. 

January 7, 1779, began the trial, at the Governor's-house, o© 
Admirals Keppel and Palasier for not taking the French fleet. 

June 15, 1794, Lord Howe arrived after his victory, on the first 
of June, and landed ;at Portsmouth amidst the hearty and deaf- 
ening acclamations of the inhabitants. He proceeded to the Go- 
vernor's house on the Grand Parade, where on the next day he 
held a levee, at which the Mayor, Alderman and Burgesses were 
introduced. His Lordship also resided here during the mutiny. 

GEORGE THE THIRD AND HIS FAMILY. 

June 26, 1794. Sunday Evening, the King add the family came 
to the governor's house about seven o'clock when the band of the 
Gloucester militia played on the parade — the Queen and the Ladies 
sat on the balcony for some time and then joined the King and Prince 
Ernest on the Queen ? s battery where with a host of nobility they con- 
tinued to promenade — they then returned in their coaches to the 
dockyard. 

1799, December 7. A splendid banquet given to the Russian 
officers at the Government-house, lent for the occasion by the go- 
vernor, Sir William Pitt. The guests were so pleased with the or- 
naments on the pastry, that they requested them, to be sent home a& 
presents to their friends. 

1798. September, a splendid masquerade at the Government- 
house, given by Sir Home Popham. 

1800. There were several fine poplars round the house and under 
the Church walls, with a profusion of flowering shrubs in a small 
enclosure or garden. In the possession of Mr. John Garrett, is a 
large painting of the front of the house, with part of the church, 
painted on the occasion of the presentation of colours to the Garri- 
son Volunteers by the lady of W. Garrett, Esq. 

January 3, 1801. F£te in honour of the Union, at the Govern- 
ment-house, by Admiral and Lady Durham. The Union flag first 
hoisted on the platform, and the new standard in the harbour, which 
was saluted by the* fleet. 

THE IMPERIAL VISIT. 

On the evening of Thursday, June 23rd, 1814. The Regent of 
England, the Emperor of Russia, the King of Prussia, Blucher, 
and their suites, the English and foreign Dukes and Princes, came 
iato the balcony, each with a glass of wine, and drank to the as- 



29 

sembled thousands amidst such thunders of applause as gave the 
scene the most astounding character. The illumination was most 
superb. In front of the building- appeared the word PEACE, two 
brilliant stars, and above, the initials A and F, with wreaths of 
laurel, surmounted by a crown and star ; and a large transparency 
of the letter A. The windo.ws, parapets, and columns of the west 
and south fronts were also covered with lamps for three nights; the 
number used being 13,348. 

June 24th — In the evening his Royal Highness had a dinner of 
above one hundred and twenty covers, wrren their Majesties, the 
Grand Duchess, the Princess, and their respective sui:es dined, and 
to which several distinguished foreigners, the Board of Admiralty, 
the ministers, and naval and military officers of the ranks of post- 
captain and colonel respectively, had the honour to be invited. In 
short, this dinner party consisted of some of the most gallant defend- 
ers of their country, both by sea and land. To gratify the tumul- 
tuous joy expressed by the populace, the whole Imperial party, late 
in the evening, rose from the banquet, came forward into the balcony, 
each bearing a goblet of wine, and while — 

" The kettle to the trumpet spake 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without, 
The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth, 
The assembled Monarchs drank to England's health." 

Jan. 21, 1826 — the Government-house began to be demolished 
this morning; and on March the 18th, 1826, was entirely destroyed. 
The only remains of antiquity discovered were two very low pointed 
Saxon arches, which had been incorporated with modern brickwork, 
the groining still forming the ceilings of wine-cellars. 

The walls of the mansion were three feet nine inches thick ; it 
contained forty-three apartments. The new part of the building was 
elevated on a platform, two feet above that which fronted the Parade, 
which exhibited a plain extensive front, with a balcony in the centre, 
supported by four small stone pillars. (There was in 1760 a double 
flight of stone steps.) In the first-floor was a dining-room, and a 
large and lofty hall, lighted by a skylight elevated above the roof; 
in which were formerly held all public assemblies : — at one extremity 
near the Church was a square turret. The building extended back- 
ward a long distance, exhibiting architecture of different periods, 
with some lofty chimneys of remarkable shapes. At the side was 
a doorway under an arch ; and farther on, a second up a flight of 
steps leading to a kind of hall, supported by pillars. The domestic 
offices were very spacious, and attached to some large gardens, with 
hothouses, &c. with a close of meadow-land, extending from Penny- 



30 

street and Green-row to the Fortifications. In one of the gardens 
is a mulberry- tree, split in a remarkable manner. 

THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN. 

There is a tradition that in the Colewort ground in Portsmouth, 
anciently stood a conventual building dedicated to the Virgin, and 
records of its existence are said to be in existance. The authors of 
the English Monasticon, make no mention of such an establishment, 
nor does the accurate Leland in his survey of the town by order of the 
eighth Henry, describe it ; if it did exist it was probably suppressed 
with the alien priories and other monastic establishments in the 
reign of Henry the fifth, and was of little import — some ruins of a 
building were here in 1692, and used in the construction of St. 
Thomas's Church, and in 1830, a mutilated stone cross was dug up 
in the burial ground, and placed on the summit of the new vestry of 
the parish church. 

The burial ground has of late years been much improved, by the 
erection of walls and gates, a few feet being left in the rear of the 
houses, for which the owners pay the vicar a small quit rent, yearly. 

In 1836, It was determined to erect a Church on this site; a li- 
beral subscription was entered into, to which the clergy of the es- 
tablishment gave six hundred pounds, including two hundred and 
fifty from the Vicar, the Rev. C. B. Henville, a like sum from the Col- 
lege of Winchester, sixty pounds from the members of Parliament, 
one hundred from the Bankers and Merchants, fifty from the officers of 
the Navy and Army, one hundred from the inhabitants, to which 
the Commissioners added one thousand, and at Christmas 1837, 
Mr. Bramble commenced the sacred edifice dedicated 

To holy Mary, Virgin Mother 
Nature shews not such another, 
Glorious, holy, meek, and mild. 

The Chapel of the General Baptists was built in 1715, the society 
having existed in the town from the dawn of nonconformity. Its 
situation, on the site of an older chapel, points backwards to the 
times of religious persecution, when these edifices existed only by 
connivance of the ruling powers. A convenient baptistery was 
erected in it about 1750. Previously, baptism by immersion was 
administered in a small piece of water in the orchard of Eastney 
Farm, which was many years in the possession of Mr. Osmond, one 
of the society. The successive pastors have been Messrs. Bowes*. 
Sturch, Austen, Mills, and Joseph Brent. At the sale of the victu- 
alling office, three lots, containing 54 feet frontage, were purchased 



31 

for the purpose of erecting thereon a spacious Chapel, for the use 
of the Calvanistic Baptist denomination, but the idea was abandoned. 
In Pembroke Street is a small Chapel belonging to the lndepen- 
dant connection. This was formerly a workshop belonging to Mr. 
Bramble, who purchased two or three small ruinous houses on the 
scite and built the present dwelling house in the street, from this 
gentleman it was purchased, and the back premises altered to its 
present form of a Chapel about 1830. 

The Bethel Chapel, and school is in Bath Square, Point. 
The original Chapel of the Wesleyan Methodists in Portsmouth 
was in Oyster-street, and was opened by John Wesley himself, in 
1788 ; but being soon found too small, it was sold by auction, and 
is now converted into a large store ; the form and shape are not 
however altered. The new chapel, in Green-row, was erected in 
1810-11 ; opened on May 1, 1811 ; the expense of the ground and 
building being 7000/. The principal front is formed of white brick, 
with a handsome parapet, having two entrances, and three win- 
dows below, and five large arched windows above. The interior is 
sixty-eight feet long, and fifty broad, with galleries extending all 
round : in the one above the communion-table was erected, in 1826, 
a small well-toned organ. The chapel will contain two thousand 
persons. It is pewed throughout, very commodious, and well light- 
ed ; behind are large rooms for schools, commenced in 1808 ; a 
vestry ; and, in St. Nicholas-street, a handsome residence for the 
minister. On the site of this chapel was formerly a Quaker's meet- 
ing-house. 

The building, now denominated the Unitarian Chapel, (behind 
which is a vestry and large library) is a neat brick edifice, at the 
upper end of the High-street, having a large doorway, and three 
arched windows in front, and a circular parapet, in the Dutch style 
architecture. Until 1822 it was hidden from the street by a high 
wall and closed gates, behind which were a number of lofty poplar 
trees. Becoming in bad repair, it was, in 1822, restored and beau- 
tified, by means of a most liberal subscription of more than 1100/. 
The wall was removed, and handsome gates and iron palisades sub- 
stituted ; but the fine trees, which served to shade the chapel. from 
the sun, and gave an air of solemnity to the edifice, were cut down. 
A square tablet in front marks the date of the reparation, as does 
also a Latin inscription above the doors. The interior is neat and 
elegant, with galleries on three sides; in it are tablets to the memo- 
ry of Dr. Wrenne, and Dr. Silver, an eminent physician. A mu- 
ral marble monument, with letters of gold, marks the place of in- 
terment (in the chapel-yard, which is very confined) of the late Sir 



32 

John Carter, knight, who died May 18, 1808, aged eighty-seven. 

In 1676, on August 2, the first register of baptism performed in 
the Presbyterian chapel in Penny-street, Portsmouth, is attested by 
Mr. John Hicks, of Trinity college, Dublin ; but it is unknown at 
what precise period the building was erected. This Mr. Hicks was 
the memorable refugee in the house of Lady Lisle, during Mon- 
mouth's rebellion ; and his being discovered there, the cause of the 
death of the venerable lady, by order of the infamous Judge Jeff- 
ries. He was succeeded in the ministry of the chapel by Mr. Thomas 
Clark, who had been ejected from the vicarage of Godshill. He 
settled at Portsmouth in 1682, and continued his ministry till 1690 — 
" an intelligent man, of pleasing manners, and remarkable for a 
happy vein of humour in conversation." The next minister was 
Mr. Francis Williams, from 1690 till 1703. During his ministry a 
public disputation was held on the subject of baptism, by permission 
of the Lieut -governor, Colonel John Gibson, and Henry Seager, 
Esq. mayor, and in their presence, [1699] the records of which, pub- 
lished by each party, may still be found. In 1707 the Rev. Simon 
Brown was ordained pastor ; the congregation still meeting in the 
chapel in Penny-street. [Part of the brewery of Pike and Co. 
now occupies the site.] He filled the situation with zeal, talent, 
and respectability, publishing in this town in 1708 a Caveat against 
evil Company ; and in 1709 " The true Character of the real Chris- 
tian or sincere good man." In 1716 he removed to London, and 
on his departure the old chapel was pulled down, and the principal 
portion of the materials used in constructing the new edifice in the 
High-street, which was finished at an expense of upwards of a 
thousand pounds in 1718. In the " Adventurer " is an interesting 
account of Mr. Brown, who laboured for years under the delusion 
that God had deprived him of his rational soul. He was succeeded 
by the Rev. John Norman, who ministered from August 1716, till 
1756, and lies buried in Portsmouth churchyard. Dr. Wrenne was 
the next minister, ordained January 9th, 1657, died October 27th, 
1787, and was the first person interred in the ground surrounding 
the chapel. During the first American war, Dr. Wrenne received 
the unanimous thanks of Congress, for his humane attention to the 
prisoners of war, subjects of the United States. The Rev. Russell 
Scott was chosen minister in January 1781, commenced his labours 
in March of the same year, and continued to preside over the 
congregation with great respectability, till his death in 1834 ; he 
was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Hawkes. 



THE 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

ROYAL DOCK YARD 

OF 

PORTSMOUTH 

IN A 

GUIDE BOOK THROUGH THE NAVAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 



HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ. 



PORTSMOUTH : 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



HISTORY OF THE NAVAL ESTABLISHMENTS, 
DOCK-YARD, GUN-WHARF, &c. 

Hail, mighty haven ! justly famed, 

LaDd-locked and free from danger? 
By every gallant seaman named 

Her Majesty's Bed-Chamber! 

PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR 

Is the finest in the world, possessing every possible advantage 
without one single disadvantage : capacious enough to receive the 
"whole British Navy ; sheltered by high lands and towns from every 
wind ; affording most excellent anchorage, with a depth of water, 
at any time of tide, for a first-rate ship to enter, or ride in security 
within; surrounded by arsenals and docks of magnificent extent, 
and guarded on every side with fortifications, in all the pomp and 
majesty of war. The entrance between the Round Tower and Block- 
fiouse Fort is not wider than the Thames at London-bridge ; but 
immediately behind these it expands, passing in a kind of lake, on 
the Gosport side, past Haslar Hospital, as high as the village of 
Stoke (Haslar Lake,) and on the Portsmouth side, into the Cam- 
ber and Mill-dam. The accommodation of the harbour, may be 
judged of from the following paragraph ; " exclusive of merchant 
ships there are now lying in Portsmouth harbour, ready to be brought 
forward, and fitted for commissioning, should the nature of the war 
require it, twenty-eight sail of the line, two fifties, twenty-two fri- 
gates, seven sloops of war, two fireships, one gunbrig, and one cut- 
ter. June 7, 1803," 

By the erection of the new Gun-wharf over a part of the ancient 
Camber, the current of the tide has been materially altered. The 
shore, at the end of Broad-street, is lower by many feet than it was 
a few years since ; and the landing-place is deteriorated considerably ; 
Point Beach, twenty-five years ago, was steep ; at that time the 
strong tide always kept it in repair, as it does now the beach at 
Blockhouse. The innovation, however, on the part of government, 
by obtruding the New Gun-Wharf into the Harbour, has given such 
a new direction to the ebbing current, that the formerly steep beacto 
at Point is now a flat, on which boats cannot land at half tide vr 
Sow water, and it is continually wasting and washing away* 

K 



FRENCH PRISONERS AT PORTSMOUTH. 

We have now before us a return of the prisoners of war, on board 
the ships in Portsmouth harbour in September, 1813, when most 
numerous, and the state of healch at that time ; which will furnish 
a satisfactory reply to the alleged misery and mortality as set forth 
by Mon. Dupin. 

Ship's Prisoners Prisoners 

Names. in health. sick. 

Prothic 583 10 

Crown 608 3 

San Damaso 726 . ■ 32 

Vigilent 590 8 

Guildford 693 8 

San Antonio 820 : .■ 9 

Vengeance 692 , 7 

Veteran : : 592 : 7 

Suffolk ( 683 6 

Assistance .' 727 35 

Ann Princessa . 769 .........:. 9 

Kron Prenessa 760 4 

Walderman 809 1 

Negro ........ : 175 ......:..:......:. 

9227 139 

■Being equal to If in the hundred. 

A magnificent view of the interior of the harbour, shipping-, ar- 
senals, Gunwharf, and the towns of Gosport and Portsea, with the 
lofty towers and domes of the colleges in the Dock, the distant hill 
of Portsdown, and Nelson's monument, is obtained, at the time of 
high-water, from the causeway at the lower end of Broad-street, 
Portsmouth. 

On a small island in the harbour stood formerly a stone fort call- 
ed Stephen's Castle. 

After passing the Dock-yard, at a mile and a half from the en- 
trance, the harbour expands to above two miles in breadth, and di- 
vides into three principal lakes ; one running up to the town of 
Fareham, a second to Portchester Castle, and a third to Portsbridge ; 
where, by a canal faced with stone, it communicates with Langstone 
Harbour. There are several other inlets, branching, towards For- 
ton, Tipner, &c. In the larger lakes, the men-of-war are laid up in 
ordinary, being roofed over with timber to preserve them from the 
weather, and regularly painted. The number is, of course, conti- 
nually changing, by their being called into commission, &c. 

The rise of the tide is eighteen feet at spring tide ; and at 
the lowest ebb tides, when the banks in front of the Forts at 
Block-house and of Southsea Castle are left dry, there is still 



sufficient depth of water in the harbour for the largest ships 
of war to ride in perfect security. It flows into the haven 
seven hours, and ebbs a little more than five ; and the current is so 
strong, and runs with such velocity in the Channel and at the mouth 
of the harbour, as effectually to scour and keep it clear, and often to 
be with difficulty stemmed by vessels. Within these few years it has 
become a practice with Government to take the Queen's ships in or 
out, by means of powerful steam-vessels, without regard to the wind 
or tide : this detracts much from the magnificence of the scene. 

In 1765, the smallest depth of water at the mouth of the harbour 
was sixteen feet nine inches ; in 1823, it is sometimes as low as thir- 
teen feet three inches, as reported on by Captain Foulester of the 
Trinity house. 

There are generally three guard-ships in the harbour, fully equip- 
ped for sea. On board one of these the Port-admiral has his flag 
flying ; and from this ship the customary salutes are given or re- 
turned.* At some distance in the lake is generally one of the Royal 
Yachts, glittering with gilding and rich carvings. Near the Dock- 
yard lies that truly national ship, 

"THE VICTORY." 



This Brave Ship bore, near Calpe's tide, 
The British standard, floating wide ; 
And led our gallant fleet with pride, 

Immortal fame to find ; 
Upon her deck were heroes lying, 
Their glory with existence buying, 
And Nelson, wounded, faint, and dying, 

With yet unconquered mind. 

Red flashes from the wreathing smoke 
Athwart the gloom as lightning broke, 
When Albion's thundering broadsides woke, 

Iberia's rocks afar ; 
At morn, two nations for our foes 
All redolent of life arose ; 
But thousands, ere the evening's close, 

Lay dead at Trafalgar. 

'Twas then, oh France, in homage due, 
Thy banner sank, of triple hue, 
And (shame to Andalusia's view!) 

The flag of Spain was furled; 
St. George's ensign reigned alone— 
Nor till that hour his fate was known, 
The Chief, who made the day our own, 

Had sought a better world. 



When far beyond the reach of art, 
Fond thoughts were busy at his heart, 
And whispered, it was hard to part 

From glory, love, and life ; 
The shades of death around him fell. 
But ere he breathed his last farewell, 
He heard the shout of conquest swell, 

And terminate the strife. 

True friendship lives beyond the grave, 
Preserves the memory of the brave, 
And prompts a Naval Power to save 

This record of his fame ; 
That long as Britain shall endure, 
Within her circling waves secure, 
Her warrior sons and patriots pure, 

May honor Nelson's name. 

Brave ship survive, their toils you shared, 
Whose lives the God of Battles spared, 
Though death in every form they dared, 

Ere rose the vesper star ; 
Memorial of that glorious day, 
Till centuries are passed away, 
Still proudly to our children say, 

" We fought at Trafalgar." 



A POLITICAL MURDER. 

On the 28th of December, 1756, the unfortunate Admiral John 
Byng was tried by a Court Martial, in Portsmouth harbour, on 
board the Saint George, to which ship he was conveyed from Green- 
wich by a party of horse guards, and insulted in every town and 
village through which he passed. Although the court were of opinion 

* Visitors and strangers can at all times visit, and are politely shown round the 
flag-ship in the harbour, without the tax of being expected to give fees for such 
gratification. 



that his misconduct arose neither from disaffection or cowardice, and 
sent a remonstrance to the Admiralty in his favour, he was condemn- 
ed to death. As the day for the execution of the Admiral approached, 
symptoms of an extraordinary character developed themselves. Lord 
Hardwicke had forgot to make the clergy declare murder innocent 
as the lawyers had been induced to find law, in what no man could 
find sense. Lord Anson in midnight fits of weakness and wine, 
held forth at Arthur T s Club, on his anxiety to have Mr. Byng spared, 
and even went so far as to break forth abruptly to Lord Halifax^ 
(Byng's relation by marriage) good God my Lord ! what shall we do 
to save poor Byiig ? the Earl replied my Lord if you really mean it, 
no man can do so much towards it as yourself; Eeppel, a friend of 
Anson and one of the judges grew restless with remorse ! lest these 
acts of conscience ehould prove contagious, the King was plied with 
antidotes, papers were posted up with paltry rhymes, 

" Hang Byng, or take care of the King," 

while threatening anonymous letters were sent to terrify him if 
he pardoned, and a violent address was sent from the city of London* 
He was shot on board the Monarque on the 14th of March, 1757, 
and thus fell, to the astonishment of all Europe, Admiral John Byng ; 
who, whatever his errors and indiscretions might have been, seems 
to have been rashly condemned, meanly given up, and cruelly sa- 
crificed, to vile considerations.* 

THE FERRY ACROSS THE HARBOUR, 

5 Tis a fine day ! In yon trim wherry, 

The fare's but small — let's cross the ferry t 

Merrily, merrily, hounds the bark — 

Your coats on fire, my dashing spark ! 

Impossible ! it cannot be. 

By heaven it is, Sir — in the sea ! 

The stranger's cheek a deep blush wore ; 

The boatman rested on his oar : 

And, might I read his fine dark eye, 

For moment fixed intentively, 

The innate pleasure I could trace 

Kindle each feature of his face ; 

Sarcastic smile ! his wit so dry 

Hath galled the landman's vanity. 

But now again the oar he plies — 

In circling stream the water flies ;. 

By many a gallant ship we sail, 

And Stephen's ancient Castle h&ih 

Then safely landed on the beach, 

CONFLAGRATION OF L'IMPETEUX. 

August 29, 1794. On Friday afternoon about five o T clock, this 

* July the 5th, 1776, at six o'clock in the morning- H. M. S. Marlborough wa» 
yt©wn up in the harbour, thirty people killed and many more wounded. 



fine new ship taken by Lord Howe was seen to be on fire, as the 
day closed, the flames increased in volume, and at night she was in 
a blaze from stem to stern — and continued to burn till late on Sa- 
turday afternoon. The following was the cause of the fire : about 
two tons and a half of powder were loose in the magazine which 
were wet, and some lighted candles were in wired lanthorns in the 
room leading to the magazine ; these candles, from the dampness, 
were with difficulty kept alight. Several men were employed all 
the afternoon taking up the wet powder in wooden scoops, and hoist- 
ing it in barrels and starting it into the sea ; after two barrels were 
hoisted, fire was discovered burning like a squib in the magazine 
passage ; alarm was given, the people on deck with difficulty escaped, 
while all those below (one of whom it was supposed had carelessly 
snuffed the candle, ihrowing the snuff on the floor) were suffocated. 
The whole ship appeared on fire in a few minutes, from the combus- 
tion of the loose powder which had been trodden about the timbers 
and decks, and the ship burnt with such irresistable force as to defy 
every effort to extinguish it: seven people were burnt to death. A 
large painting of this conflagration is in one of the hotels in Ports- 
mouth. In later times, the Diamond frigate was burnt in Portches- 
ter lake. 

SUNDAY IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR. 

Religion in a sailor, is more of an active than a passive feeling. 
It does not consist in reflection or self-examination. It is in exter- 
nals that his respect to the Deity is manifest. Witness the Sunday 
on board of a man-of-war. The care with which the decks are 
washed, the hauling taut and neat coiling down the ropes, the stu- 
died cleanliness of person, most of which duties are performed on 
other days, but on this day are executed with an extra precision 
and attention on the part of the seamen, because it is Sunday. 
Then the quiet decorum voluntarily observed ; the attention to Di- 
vine Service, which would be a pattern to a congregation on shore ; 
the little knots of men collected, in the afternoon, between the guns, 
listening to one who reads some serious book ; or the solitary quar- 
ter-master poring over his thumbed Testament, as he communes 
with himself — all prove thaf sailors have a deep-rooted feeling of 
religion. The Sunday on board of a man-of-war is hallowed 
throughout; it commences with respect and reverence and it ends 
with the same. 

THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL. 

1827, Sunday August the sixth. The Lord High Admiral, [William 



6 

IV] and the Duchess of Clarence, [Queen Adelaide] left the George 
Hotel, and passed down the centre of the street to the Sallyport be- 
tween ranks of soldiers, attended by a numerous retinue, and went on 
board the Victory to attend divine service. It was a cloudless day, the 
church bells were chiming, and as the royal procession passed, the 
bands struck up the national anthem in perhaps the loveliest strain ever 
heard within the Garrison ; there was no accompaniment of noisy 
drums, but the soft instrumental music only, and that but for a few mo- 
ments while the Duke with uncovered head, and the Duchess with alow 
curtsy, passed the presented colours of the different regiments — there 
was no noise, no confusion in the streets, no boisterous cheering on 
the land or sea, the royal standard being saluted by the flag ship 
alone. They were received on the Quarter Deck with a respect- 
ful solemnity well suited to the sabbath day, and this obser- 
vance of the Sunday, in strict accordance with the known feeling 
of the British Navy — and this Regal veneration of the day, car- 
ried with it a great moral beauty. 

WATER BOUNDARIES OF THE BOROUGH. 

"The extent of the water jurisdiction depends on the state of the 
tide, (except across the mouth of the harbour) and it therefore in- 
cludes the whole port wherever the water flows. — Horsey Island is 
not within the Borough jurisdiction although the waters of the ha- 
ven surround it on every side : there is no instance known of a 
borough or county writ having been executed in it. Whale Island 
is within the Borough." — Evidence of D. Howard, Esq. before the 
Commissioners in 1833. 

The following were taken and described by the late W. Goldson, 
Esq. Oil the 7th of August, 1800. 

" As close as possible from the boundary post on Southsea beach, 
(now marked by a white obelisk which encloses the remains of Fel- 
ton's gibbet), in a straight line across the mouth of the harbour to 
the end of Green-lane behind Haslar Hospital — as near to it as the 
tide will admit ; from hence along the shore to Blockhouse-beach, 
up Haslar-lake, to the Causeway at Alverstoke, (near the sea mark 
called the Gill Kicker), up the other branch of the lake to the bridge 
which crosses to the House of Industry on Ewer Common, returning 
hence, to Gosport beach, up Forton-lake to the Mill, to Hardway and 
up Bedenham-creek ; then on to Fareham Quay and up the river to 
the bridge at the head of the Milldam ; then down the lake to Waker- 
hard and on to Portchester, and from thence along the shore to 
Palsgrove, Wymering, and round Horsey Island to Tipner," "the 



Town Clerk claiming at each place on behalf of the Mayor and Body 
Corporate of Portsmouth jurisdiction, in as full and ample a manner 
as was ever claimed by any of the Mayors his predecessors,'' and 
asserting" the jurisdiction by the Sergeant at Mace touching each 
place with one oar. — Mr. Howard's return in 1831 to Mr, Lamb's 
letter relative to the limits. 

" I went the water bounds with Mr. Goldson. Mr. James Carter 
and Mr. Goldson flogged one another round the bound-post, and 
there was righting at Fareham Bridge and Gosport to prevent land- 
ing from the boats ; they went as far as the water would allow them." 
^-Mr. Lang's evidence before the corporation commissioners. 

" The Corporation went in three or four barges, with a band of 
music, the corporation flag, of blue silk with the crest in the centre, 
being in the barge in which was the mayor and aldermen in their 
scarlet robes, the sergeant-at-arms with the silver mace, and the 
town clerk." 

ANCIENT TOLLAGE. 

In 1564, it is written, " That by the constitutions of the town for 
two hundred years and odd, the passage boats between Portsmouth 
and Gosport paid twelve pence a year for the better maintainance of 
the town and liberties, and as an acknowledgement of the rights of 
the corporation," the principal members of which, in most of the 
ancient royal mandates respecting naval affairs, are addressed as 
" Bailiffs of our Port of Portesmouth." 

PORTSMOUTH ROYAL DOCK-YARD AND 
NAVAL ARSENAL. 

" Every thing is here conducted on the grandest scale, and, abstractedly considered, the 
efforts of human industry appear too weak and impotent to achieve the vast and important 
works here displayed." 

Origin of Portsmouth Dock Yard — From the volume of Close 
Rolls recently edited by the Record Commission, it may be inferred 
that the first establishment of the naval arsenal took place in the 
reign of King John — " The King to the Sheriff of Southampton, 
&c. — We order you without delay by the view of lawful men, to 
cause our Docks at Portsmouth to be inclosed with a good strong 
wall in such a manner as our beloved and faithful William Arch- 
deacon of Taunton will tell you, for the preservation of our ships 
and galleys ; and likewise to cause penthouses to be made to the 
same walls as the same Archdeacon will also tell you, in which all 
our ships' tackle may be safely kept ; and use as much dispatch as 
you can in order that the same may be completed this summer, lest 
in the ensuing winter our ships and galleys and their rigging should 



incur any damage by your default. And when we know the cost it 
shall be accounted to you — 20th. May, 14 John, A.D. This record 
affords a curious example of priestly superintendance in English na- 
val affairs. 

For mayntening of the Great Ships' Dock at Portesmouth, 
and calkyng of all the ships, yt cannot be nerly esteemed ; 
Rolls marked 14 B xxij-iij-iv. formerly in Henry the Eighth's 
Library. The expenses of the King's Shippes in 31 Hen. 
VIII. 1425/. 0s. lOd. per month, 1613 seamen." Leland, in his 
Itinerary, says, " in the great Dock lay the ribs of the Henri 
Grace de Dieu, the biggest ship in hominum memoria. 

A.D. 1650. This dock had no mast-house, no dry dock, not 
above one hundred shipwrights, and only one team of horses. 
A.D. 1661 " There was no dry dock in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth, nor until the taking of Jamaica ; only one hundred shipwrights 
and about forty or fifty labourers.— John Hatch was the builder, who 
left manuscripts to this effect." 

In the Harleian Library is an account of his Majesty's New Docks 
at Portsmouth, principally designed for the accommodation of the 
first rank in the royal navy of England, setting forth the numerous 
properties of the dry dock, the several contrivances of the parts, and 
the usefulness of the whole design for the repairs and dispatch of all 
ship work, in a letter to the Navy Board, by the Surveyor of His 
Majesty's Navy in 1698, and subjoined are four very accurately 
drawn draughts of the docks. 

The Grand Naval Arsenal of England, the rendezvous and head- 
quarters of the British Navy, is the most capacious in the world, and 
every possible attention has been paid to the extension and improve- 
ment of it. The sea-wharf extends north and south on the western 
side of one of the noblest harbours in the universe : in length, three 
thousand five hundred feet ; and the mean depth is two thousand 
feet; enclosing an area of nearly one hundred and twenty acres. 
The principal entrance is through a large pair of gates at the extre- 
mity of the Common Hard ; on the right-hand side is a small portal 
for foot passengers ; above which, on a stone slab, is the following 
inscription and date of the wall erected in the reign of Queen Anne, 
by which it is enclosed on the land-side. " This wall was begun on 
the 4th of June, and was finished on the 13th of December, 1711." 
It is of great height and thickness. Above the great gate are the 
initials G. R.; on the left a lofty flag-staff, on which is displayed, on 
state occasions, the Imperial Standard of the United Kingdom. 

On entering the yard, the residence of the Warder presents it- 



self; and on the opposite side, a lodge, furnished with seats for the 
accommodation of visitors. "The warder of the gale is not to per« 
mit any stranger, improper person, or foreigner, to pass the gate." 
Strangers often feel aggrieved at being refused admission, but it is 
better for visitors to obtain an order from the authorities, or take 
some respectable inhabitant of the towns with them. Visitors should 
be at the gates at ten o'clock precisely. On entering, they enter 
their names in a book ; and the various objects are then pointed out 
hy a proper attendant. The hours for inspection are from ten till 
three in summer, and from ten till two in winter. 

The ranges of Mast-houses are on the left of the carriage-road, 
extending on an inclined plane to the water's edge of the harbour,, 
A.D. 1770, July 17th, 3 a. m. a fire destroyed the mast and oar- 
houses, with the carpenters' shop, together with all the most valuable 
materials: the loss was incalculable, and never could be ascertained., 
in these sheds are manufactured the masts and yards for the Royal 
Navy; and here may be seen the masts of many celebrated ships, 
remarkable for being splintered by shot, or shattered by lightning., 
On the right appears a large square excavation, containing salt- 
water, and termed a mast-pond, used for preserving and seasoning 
timber. On the farther side of the pond, which has a communica- 
tion with the harbour, are the mansions of the superintendant, &c„ 
At the two ends of the mast-pond, locks are constructed for the 
stowing away mast-timber under water : and according to plans 
formed in 1784, and contracts made in 1773, a very large piece 
of new ground, till then overflowed by the sea, had begun to 
be enclosed and embanked for a second Mast-pond. This work was 
ordered to be discontinued in 1796, from reasons represented to the 
Admiralty. Had it been suffered to proceed at the same rate it did 
for the six years it was in progress, it would have required for com- 
pletion 176 years, and the expense to the public would have been 
132 millions* 

The new landing-place is near the mast-houses; this has been 
formed since 1830, at a great expense. 

* "A, D. 1790, begun driving- piles at the south end of the watering-island and 
Common Hard, the head and dwarf stone wharf to the mast-house and slip, the 
wall returning - eastward formed at this time. 1786, Stone piers for the new mast- 
pond, 43207.— 1787, Wharfs north side of new mast-pond, 4483> ; . Works continued, 
3496?. 4*. 6e/.— 1792, Mast-house slip, 265/. 19*. 4d.-1793, Wharfs of the new 
pond, 2085/. 16*. 8d. Wharfs of the inner mast-pond, 3561/. 16s —1794, Wharfs 
of the inner mast-pond, 4390/ 11*. 8rf. North wharf to new mast-pond, 1689/. 
7*. 2d.— 1795, Works to the inner mast-pond, 4627/. 11*. 6rf. Dwarf wall and 
slips outer mast-pond, 1400/. 16* Sd North wharf of the same, 1272/. 6*. hd. — 
1796, Works continued, 1417/. 16* 9rf..— 1797, North side of new mast-pond, 
'657/. 1*. 2d. For new mast-houses, and proceeding with locks in the mast-pond, 
20,000?. North and south jetties, 16,000/. Mast -pond, mast-houses, locks. dan»s% 
«&c. 20*000/. 



to 

The mast-houses have been much improved within these few years. 
Beyond the inner Mast-pond are several stores and enclosed yards : 
and in a line with these is the Anchor Depository, extending a great 
length, and paved : in this place are deposited the anchors of the 
Royal Navy to the number of hundreds ; they are arranged with re- 
gularity, and painted white to preserve them from the atmosphere. 
Many of these anchors weigh from ninety to ninety-five hundred 
weight each. A first-rate line of battle ship carries four such 
anchors, being in weight three hundred and sixty cwt, and of the 
value of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four pounds sterling ; 
besides several others of great size and proportionate value. 

The next object of interest is the Rope House, three stories high, 
fifty-four feet wide, and one thousand and ninety-four in length. 
The perspective formed by the interior of this edifice has a singular 
effect : through the long vista the workmen appear diminished to 
dwarfs. The building is paved with cast-iron and tin, to prevent 
accidents by fire. The preparation of the hemp takes place in the 
upper stories, where it is spun into threads ; the cables are manufac- 
tured on the ground floor ; the work is so laborious (though lightened 
in every possible way by machinery,) that the workmen continue 
their labour but a few hours in the day. The engines by which the 
cables are made, are seen on entering the building. Some idea of 
the severity of the work may be formed from the following state- 
ment: — " The laying of a cable of twenty-three inches is performed 
by the simultaneous exertion of one hundred and eighty men, and 
requires upwards of an hour of the most strenuous exertion of strength 
especially on the part of those at the cranks, wha not unfrequently 
burst a blood-vessel by the severity of the continued labour," The 
process of passing the yarns through the apertures of an iron plate, 
is performed by a steam engine (of six-horse power) of a peculiar 
construction. 

Mr. Parsons, the master ropemaker of this Dock-yard, invented 
the improved tarring machine, the superiority of which, over the 
old plan of nippers, has been fully established: while it fully satu- 
rates the yarns, and prevents all excess of tar, it does not break a 
single thread, nor in the least impair any ; the consequent saving to 
the country must therefore be very great in this machine alone ; all 
the other machines used in the Dockyards, in the present improved 
system of rope-making, are of his invention. 

NOLI ME TANGERE ! ! 

His Serene Highness the Duke Charles Bernard of Saxe Weimar 



11 

attended by Majors Foriade and Auguste Grenier, arrived to view 
the Dock-yard. 

January 4, 1819. The Grand Duke Maximilian of Austria, and 
suite, visited the Rope-house, when an unfortunate circumstance oc- 
curred to Count Hardigg, one of the suite, which was likely to have 
had a fatal result. The ropemakers being employed making a cable, 
the Count felt his curiosity greatly excited by tracing the operation 
of the yarn which designated the cable as being the property of the 
crown : when unthinkingly, he put his hand upon the strands, look- 
ing at the same moment at an object in another direction, and the 
strands as they went round, drew in his fingers and hand. An in- 
stant call to stop the machinery was as promptly obeyed, or his hand 
and arm would probably have been twisted of. His fingers were 
crushed, the back of his hand was torn up, and his shoulder was a 
little strained. The Grand Duke gave 60/. to be distributed to the 
workmen of the Dock-yard, and put about 17/. into the charity 
boxes, for the widows of men who had lost their lives by accidents 
whilst employed in the yard. 

In the war three hundred and fifty ropemakers were constantly 
employed in this dockyard. 

"ALL HAIL TO THE MONARCH OF ENGLAND.'* 

Whenever the Sovereign visits the town of Portsmouth in state, it 
is an ancient custom for the ropemakers of the Dock-yard to precede 
the royal carriage from the boundary of the borough, uniformly 
dressed, bearing white staves and the national flag, and wearing 
blue sashes across the shoulder. The last time the ceremony took 
place was on the visit of the Regent and the allied Sovereigns, in 
1814. " On the nearer approach to the town, a large baud of the 
Royal Dock Ropemakers according to ancient custom, habited in 
white jackets and nankeen trowsers, with purple sashes across their 
shoulders, ornamented with royal insignia, five conductors with short 
staves, the others bearing white wands, followed the cavalry, and 
preceded the Regent's carriage. The procession was obliged to halt 
at short intervals of time, when three lengthened shouts burst from 
the Ropemakers, and the responding multitudes." 



The record now to infamy we turn. 
Behold, where Britain's naval treasures burn — 
Portsmouth ! the billows which thy Harbour lave 
Reflect fell fires in every circling wave : 
Aitkin, like him who fired th' Ephesian fane, 
In felon reputation shall remain : 
Nay the Muse fears of treason you'll attaint her, 
That Rogue for only naming. Jack the Painter. 

Dibdin's History of England 



12 

The rope-house and buildings connected with it have repeatedF^r 
suffered from fires. A. D. 1780, July 3rd, at midnight, two of the 
principal stores, containing tar, oil, and turpentine, hemp and dry 
stores, were entirely destroyed by the effects of lightning during & 
storm : the damage was above 40,000/. A. D. 1770, July 27th, at 
five o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out in the rope-house, de- 
stroying the tar and pitch stores, the laying and spinning-houses, 
and other valuable buildings ; bursting forth at four different places 
at once. The damage done amounted to 149,000/. The fire, 
which was generally considered the act of some incendiary, was not 
extingushed till three o'clock in the afternoon. A. D. 1776, De- 
cember 7th, the destruction of the rope-house was effected by John 
Aitkin, alias Jack the Painter. The fire was at the time considered 
accidental, but a hollow piece of wood being found under some hemp 
in the following January, filled with combustibles covered with tin 
full of holes, and which had evidently been inflamed by a tube and 
match at one end, discovered the atrocious offender, who was taken, 
tried at Winchester, found guilty, led through the yard, and shown 
the devastation he had caused, and then executed on March 10th 9 
1777, at the dock gates, on a gibbet sixty-four feet and a half high 
(formed from the mizen-mast of the Arethusa,) and afterwards hung 
in chains on Block-house Beach. He acknowledged ihe justness of 
his sentence, was penitent, and decent in his behaviour, and advised 
the Government to be more vigilant. The damage done at this 
time amounted to 60,000/. Some sailors took the skeleton of this 
wretched man down some years after his execution, placed it in a 
sack, and left it in the chimney-corner of a public-house at GosporU 

Say who, 'gainst Albion's sacred land 
Gave hostile foes a willing hand, 
Obedient to their stern command ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter I 

Who viewed with gladdened heart and eyes 
The awful flames he bade arise 
Tremendous through the midnight skies ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter ! 

By every loyal heart contemned, 
Who was at Winchester condemned, 
By rope and noose to find an end ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter ! 

Who (as in history I've read) 
When 'mid the heaps of ruin led, 
Proved a repentant renegade ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter > 

Who, by the weight of guilt oppressed, 
Sis deeds at Plymouth-bock confess'd, 
&nd how he meant to fire the rest ? 

Why truly. Jack the' Painter t 



13 

Whose corpse, by ponderous irons wrung; 
High upon Blockhouse Beach was hung, 
And long to every tempest swung ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter's f 

Whose bones, some years since taken down, 
Were brought in curious bag to town, 
And left in pledge for half-a-crown ? 

Why truly, Jack the Painter's r 

The apparatus with which Jack the Painter attempted, and partly- 
succeeded in setting fire to Portsmouth Dock yard, are still in ex- 
istence, they consist of a pistol, gimlet, powder-flask, and bottle of 
turpentine, and were purchased from the widow of the constable 
who arrested John Atkin, alias James Hill, alias Jack the Painter, 
by Captain T. M. Bagnold, R. M. who presented them to the U. S. 
Museum with an autograph from Sir John Fielding the London 
Magistrate, relating to the ruffian's capture. 

In a line behind the Docks extend the Officer's offices, erected by 
Messrs. Parlby on June 6th, 1786, and finished in 1788, being a 
handsome range of brick buildings, with a large archway in the 
centre, fitted with every convenience, and commanding a view of the 
Docks.* Near these are the quadrangular stores, the joiners' shops 
saw-pits, &c. About fifty years ago there was a row of trees in 
the front of the old offices, which were built of wood, and very low ; 
and a stone pillar and globe (still in the masons' yard,) which acted 
as a sun-dial. 

In parallel lines along the wharfs, are placed the two Sea Store- 
houses and the two Hemp-stores, magnificent brick erections, wilh 
doorways, window-sills, and Tuscan cornices of Portland stone, ex- 



* " A. D. 1786, Works to offices, joiners' shops, and saw-pits, 9601. — 1787, 
Offices, 54241. 2s. 6d.; House-carpenters' shop, 2300^—1788, Shops, 1280Z.; 
offices, 1198Z. — 1789, Works to new stores at south end of officers' lodgings, 
6328J. 6s. lid.— 1790, New stores, 6777Z. 19s. 4d.— 1791, Stores, 252J. I5s. 8d." 

" A. D. 1777, February 18, Messrs. Templar, Parlby, and Templar, contract 
for erecting the middle store fronting the Camber, together with a clock-cupola, 
and to take in hand the foundation of the intended rigging-house and store on 
the west side of the Camber, of materials mentioned in 1764, March 9th : the 
store to be two hundred and ten feet long and fifty-one feet broad ; the old 
buildings on this site to be removed and the rubbish to be used in raising the 
new ground; the buildings to be of the Tuscan order. — 1782-83-84, Works 
executed for the storehouses for fitted rigging, rigging-houses, and rigging stores, 
and the new south storehouse, 9000£." 

" 1773, August 27, James Templar and Thomas Parlby contract to carry on 
and complete all the wharfs of the Camber, Mast-pond, piers, &c. deepening 
it, setting the stone in terras, with gates at the extremities ; to be lined with 
Portland stone ; six hundred feet per year to be completed." Signed Sep- 
tember 3, 1773. "Value of the works performed at the Camber wharfs, be- 
tween May 16th, 1774, and September 27th, 1776, 14,493Z. Us 10d.; 1780-82- 
83-84, Works to the Camber, digging foundations, pumping, &c 20,807£. 19s. 
3d.; 1785, Works at the Camber, 480*. 



14 

tending eight hundred feet in length, and nearly sixty feet wide. 
Above the centre archway of these stores, a circular semaphore was 
in 1813 erected under the direction of the Honourable Sir George 
Grey, Bart, and Nicholas Vass, Esq. master house-carpenter of the 
arsenal : it is a landmark for ships at Spithead, and from the sum- 
mit is a noble view. In a parallel line on the other side of the ca- 
nal is a second range of Stores, the Rigging-house and Sail-loft, six 
hundred feet long, and of proportionate breadth ; in the middle of 
the centre store is a tower, containing a clock, by which the time of 
the workmen is regulated. 

The internal arrangement of these stores is convenient ; and al- 
though the quantity of naval necessaries is so immense, so great is 
the order that any article can be obtained at the shortest notice : 
archways afford means of communication from the several parts of 
the yard through these buildings. " Near the extremity, and in the 
centre of the present roadway, formerly stood a lofty wooden build- 
ing, used for the original block-manufactory : there was a staircase 
to the summit, externally. I went to the top to see the explosion of 
the Boyne." 

Between the ranges of storehouses there is a deep canal, faced 
with stone, and wharfs on each side, extending six hundred and 
sixty feet, and of capacity to admit merchant-ships bringing stores. 

In the " Collectanea Topographica " No. 7, is an account of the 
burning of the Queen's Storehouses at Portsmouth, in 1557. 

On the sea-side of the stores extend the wharfs, from the gates to 
the King's stairs, or landing-place : some portions of these wharfs 
were formed under the superintendence of the celebrated Smeaton ; 
where the landing-place now is, was a hulk, called the Landing- 
hulk ; many of the wharfs were formed towards the close of last 
century.* 

In the centre of the wharf wall, facing the harbour, is the en- 
trance into the great basin, whose dimensions are 380 by 260 feet, 
and its area two acres and an eighth. This basin was originally 
one third less than at present, but, under the superintendence of 
General Sir Samuel Bentham, (see his letter to the Admiralty, dated 
May 29th, 1795,) was rendered worthy the first British naval port. 

* " 1782-3-4, Works to the wharfs at the watering-island, 813 It, 5s. 10d.; 
Wharfs at the landing-hulk, 4230/. 14s.; 1785, South wharf at the watering-is- 
land, 5350/. 8s. 4.; at the landing-hulk, 3400/." 1787, Thomas Parlby con- 
tracted to erect a stone wharf between the south dock and the landing-place. 
Expenses of the wharf in 1788, 2632/.; 1789, Dams for its erection, 1626/. 
17s 4d. It was completed in April 1790. 



15 

The Admiralty order for carrying this work into execution is dated 
October 8, 1795, comprehending, first, an enlargement of the basin* 
the construction of two additional docks within the basin, and the 
formation of three long jetties, at an estimated expense of 231,000/.* 

Ships of the line, at any draught of water at which they can 
come into the harbour, can, with all in, be fitted and equipped, even 
to the taking in of water, entirely within the boundaries of the Dock- 
yard ; and such a degree of despatch has been obtained, that ships 
coming in from sea have been taken into dock even at neap tide, un- 
dergone repairs, and have sailed again for their station in as few days 
as the weeks, that were requisite for the performance of the same 
business before these accommodations were provided; and one dock 
has been made to answer the purpose for which three or four docks 
would otherwise have been requisite. Twelve ships are capable of 
being fitted at the Dock-yard at one time, and six ships may be un- 
docked (one from each of the six docks), and six other ships taken 
into dock in the same tide ; and this succession may be repeated 
without the least interference between ship and ship as fast as the 
ships last out of dock can be taken away to their moorings. 

The entrance to the basin from the harbour is fitted with a floating 
caisoon instead of gates. Tin's dam in the shape of a Greenland 
boat fits at each extremity into proper groves in the masonry. It 
is easy of repairs, affords a carriage-road at the top, and is opened 
and closed with facility. It was an invention of General Ben- 
tham. 

Into the basin open four dry docks, and on each of its sides is a 
dry dock opening into the harbour ; these are termed the South, 
North, North-east, and middle ; North dock in the basin, and South 
dock in the basin.f 



* " 1796, Works to the wharfs, docks and basin, agreeable to General Ben- 
tham's plan, 14,973/. 9s. 5c?.; 1797, the works continued, 19,839/. 18s. 2d.; 

1798, the works continued, 22,149/. 14s. 2d. The dam opposite the entrance 
to the basin in order of formation, from September 24, to October 25, 1798. 

1799, March 11, 1 laid the first stone of the inverted arch for the entrance to 
the great basin. (47,680/. voted by Parliament for' carrying on these great na- 
tional works.) 1799, Works to walls for the enlargement of the basin with a 
new entrance from the harbour, together with entrances to the two new docks, 
according to General Bentham's plan, 19, 039/, lis. 4d. 1800, Basin, remov- 
ing earth, cleaning masonry, and constructing a dam, 1185/. 5s. 10c?. 1801, 
works, taking out earth to the depth proposed, clearing away dam, and com- 
pleting the granite walls of tlie great basin, 2540/. 5s. 8d. 1803, February 1.. 
The basin still in progress of deepening to the amount of 2577| yards; and al- 
tars, slips, drains, inverted archways forming." 

f Some idea of the expense of their formation may be formed from the fol- 
lowing estimates, extracted from the manuscripts of the contractors. 1790,, 



16 

The Docks are, about twenty -two feet deep, and are lined with 
Portland and Purbeck stone ; in the formation of them the beds of 
gravel forming the superstrata of the island were cut through, and 
the indurated clay beneath exposed, which will give some idea of the 
depth of the foundations. The communication of the docks and 
basin is by swinging gates, which open in the centre and lie flat 
against the side-walls of the entrance. Above the gates are foot- 
bridges of communication. Ships are taken into dock at high-tide, 
and the gates being closed and secured, the water is pumped out by 
the steam-engines, which, with two pumps, make eighteen strokes, 
raising twenty tons of water a minute, which passes into a reservoir. 
On the site of the basin was an ancient dock, formed of timber, 
and trunnelled together, the sides being formed of whole trees ; on 
the removal of this, which was called Cromwell's Dock, many large 
stone cannon-balls were found. 

" Old Dock of wood, length from head of the pier to the head of 
the dock, measured along the sides 330 feet on each side. The 
bottom of the dock 395 feet long ; depth 22 feet ; the wharfs on 
the outside of the piers 40 feet on each side ; and depth 22 feet." 

Besides the docks above mentioned, there is a double-dock for 
frigates ; the Camber head dock communicating with a basin two- 
hundred-and-fifty feet square, and the camber stern dock opening by 
a lock into the harbour. Previous to 1798, these docks consisted 
of a canal, terminating in a pond, the water flowing in and out at 
every tide: they were converted into their present form, at the sug- 
gestion of General Bentham. The sums of money paid for wharfs, 
&c. in this part of the yard are stated below.* 

August 11. New Dock proposed. The earth removing this month. The south 
pier forming. 1790, works to the stone wharf, south pier, and dam of the new 
dock, 3330?. 2s. Id. 1791, December 31. Began driving foundation-piles for 
the south side of the n«w south dock. 1791, Expenses of the stone wharf, 
and south pier of the new dock, 11,400?. 6s. 8d> 1792, March 3. Began set- 
ting Portland stone for the south side of the new dock. (The contract for its 
formation being-dated January 2, 1792.) 1792, works to the south dock, (a- 
verage price 22?. 10s. per rod) 11,072?. 12s. 1793, works continued, 18,328?. 
5s. Id. 1794, ditto, 13,952?. 2s 1795, works continued at an expense of 
1400?. 8s. 3c?. 1799, works continued, (25,000?. being voted by Parliament) 
3548?. 0s. U. 1800, new Parallel Dock formed, at 22?. 10s. per rod. 1800, 
works to the new south dock in the basin in this year, 21,981?. 14s. 10c?. 
Works to the southeast dock, consisting of excavations and masonry, 221?. 17s. 
bd. 1801, works to the south dock in the basin and drains, 9663?. Is. 4c?.; and 
works to the new south-east dock in the basin and drains, 10,099?. 12s 6c?. 
1802, March 26. The east side of the south-east dock in the basin, the length 
sixty -feet, now in progress, works to the new south-east dock in the basin, 
16,564?. 2s. 4c?. 1803-6. The tunnel and drain from the south-east-dock to the 
Mast-pond, now in progress. 

* 1782-3-4, works to the boat-house channel, slip-way, &c. 2146?. 9s. 2c?., 
exclusive of discount. — 1785, wharfs in front of the boat-house, 960?.; wharfs 



17 

Within these docks all the processes of ship-building and repair, 
take place, aud in the basin, ships are received to be examined, 
with all their standing and running rigging-. Within these few years 
the docks have been covered with roofs of wood and -slating, from 
the designs of Sir Robert Seppings : light is admitted by numerous 
glazed windows in the roof, and the sides are supported by rows of 
wooden pillars. The cost of one of these roofs is between 6000/. 
and 7000/. ; but the ship is found to be so much better preserved, 
as fully to warrant the expense. The most extraordinary appearance 
is the expanse of these roofs, and the absence of cross beams ; they 
are supported on the principle of trussing. " For many years great 
expenses were incurred in the formation of a double dock, &c, the 
work was begun by an order of the Admiralty, on October the 10th, 
1795 ; The nature of it was, a double dock for two ships of the line, 
a single graving dock, five jetties, and repairs to the original basin, 
at an estimated expense of 260,000/. : this work was afterwards 
superseded, by the enlargement of the basin." 

A PRESENT FOR A QUEEN. 

" Mr. Maitland, Master- rigger, presented her Royal Highness the 
Princess Victoria, with a model of a corvette of 22 guns, which her 
Royal Highness most graciously pleased to accept. On the Duchess 
of Kent and the Princess landing at the King's Stairs, at their Royal 
Highnesses request, Mr. Maitland had the honour of being introduced, 
when the Duchess and Princess expressed their thanks {which had 
been previously conveyed by letter) for the present, and their great 
admiration of ii; a consideration which was acknowledged by Mr. 
Maitland, in a manner perfectly characteristic of the loyalty of this 
much esteemed and excellent old sailor. The model, a very beauti- 

at the south end. of the boat-pond, 4802. — 1786, Stone wharfs at the east end 
of the boat-pond, (exclusive of discount,) 2886/. — 1788, Wharf north side of 
the boat-pond, and works in the boat-house channel, 7080/. f Iron and boat- 
-stores, 7584/.— 1789, Iron and boat stores, 902/. 18s. 2d. Wharfs at the south 
side of the boat-house channel, 1518/. 0s. 4d. — 1790, Wharfs for the boat- 
house channel, 1730/. 2s. 2d.— 1791, Wharfs continued, 2832/. 16s. 4c/.— 1792, 
Wharfs continued with the formation of a dam, 1683/. 8s. 9d. — 1794, Boat- 
house channel, 82/. 9s 6d.— 1795, Channel continued, 274/. 15s.— 1796, Wharfs 
and slips on the south side of boat-house channel, 904/. lis. 3d. — 1797, Wharfs 
and slip on the south side of the channel, 1349/. 10s. — 1798, Works continued, 
7421. 15s. bd. — 1800, Works to the long dock in the boat-house channel, agree- 
able to Sir S. Benthanfs plan, 1297/ 10s. lid. — 1801, New works continued, 
2003/. 15s. 2d.— 1802, Works continued, 193/. 5s. lOd. the docks being in this 
year widened. These docks are intended for the reception of frigates and small 
ships of war. 

A. D. 1777, July 26. New bottom and sides to the old north dock made at 
an expense of 13,883/. 2s. Id. 

t This wharf on the north side of the boat-house channel, I began to work on Augnst 
16; and I began the foundations of Purbeck stone on September 2nd, L788.— MSS. &ank*u 



18 

ful one, is on a half inch scale, rigged on the new establishment, 
with all her guns, anchors, cables, boats, running rigging, complete. 
Her length is 4 feet 7 inches : extreme breadth 1 foot 3*4 inches. 
The Emerald yacht was sent for it, and conveyed it to N orris Castle. 



The mast for the sheers on the jetty of the Basin, wa? erected in 
1835. Its dimensions are as follows, length of the mast 128 feet, 
(18 feet housed) diameter 44 inches, weight 25 tons, length of sheers 
142 feet, derrick 147 feet, diameter of each 29 inches, a railway 
was laid down from the new mast house to these sheers in 1835: in 
1837, a second pair of sheers were erected to the same mart and of 
like dimensions, which work over the harbour. 

THE SHIPWRIGHTS OF 1775. 

June 14, 1775. The shipwrights in the yard stood out for work, 
and went in again on the 21st : stood out again on the 28th. 

" Wednesday the shipwrights at the Dock-yard left their work 
again, and came out of the yard, and they are determined not to re- 
turn to work till their pay is increased to 2*. 6d. a day, exclusive of 
chips task work totally abolished ; and those men that were dis- 
charged last week, entered and put upon the same footing as them- 
selves." 

The following was handed about by the shipwrights of his Majes- 
ty's Dock-yard, dedicated to the Gentlemen, Tradesmen, and Inha- 
bitants of Gosport, Portsmouth, and Portsmouth-Common, July I: 

" By order from the Hon. the Commissioner and principal Officers 
of his Majesty's Navy, directing the Shipwrights of his Majesty's 
Yard to perform a mode of work called task, and conscious to them- 
selves, on the fullest conviction, it must occasion progressive suicide 
on our bodies, the destruction of our families, and the inhabitants in 
general : Another order already enforced at Plymouth, whereby any 
persons from sickness, or being wounded, should be obliged to con- 
tinue one month at home, be discharged : these, with a daily in- 
crease of grievances, have reunited the Yards to apply for redress, 
but have received no satisfactory answer. We have therefore agreed 
not to enter the Yard till redressed. And it is humbly hoped the 
worthy inhabitants will assist in supporting us and families till relief 
is obtained, when it is hoped we shall be enabled to make our most 
grateful acknowledgments to each Benefactor, with a return agree- 
able to his subscription." — The major part returned to work on the 
7th and 12th of August. 



19 
LAUNCHING OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. 

On Wednesday, September 14th, 1825, at twelve, his Majesty's 
ship Princess Charlotte, 110 guns (the largest ship ever built here) 
was launched, in the presence of an immense concourse of specta- 
tors, who saw this fabric glide into that element in which she was 
destined to float, in the perfectness of skill and science. The Prince 
Leopold came from Clarernont, attended by Sir Robert Gardner and 
General Wetherall, purposely to witness the launch of the ship nam- 
ed after his consort. Whilst this event was passing, a terrific acci- 
dent took place about ten minutes before the ship went off the slip. 
From the entrance of the dock-yard to the slip on which the Prin- 
cess Charlotte was built, are three bridges, each seventy feet long. 
Connected with the first bridge is a spacious basin, into which it was 
intended the Princess Charlotte, on being launched, should be float- 
ed, to be coppered. An increased quantity of water had been let 
into the basin for the purpose. At twelve o'clock, this bridge was 
crowded with persons, when the weight of the water in the basin 
(agitated by the motion kppt up on the bridge) pressed so against 
the dock-gaies, that they broke into pieces, and the dock was filled 
by a rush of water, sweeping in its course the gates, bridge, rails, 
stages, and all on the bridge, excepting such only as were within a 
few feet of the extremities. A stupendous wave, mingled with frag- 
ments of timber, was dashed with fury against the farther end, and 
again rebounding ten or twelve feet above the level of the yard, 
again rushed back to fill the hollow created by its own velocity. 
Immediately afterwards appeared in different parts of the basin the 
sufferers, some in the agonies of death, others in a state of insensi- 
bility, and one or two apparently not much injured, but still exposed 
to the horrors of drowning, and of coming in contact with the pieces 
of timber, which the uproar of the water was dashing one against 
the other. 

The bodies of many dead persons were taken to the surgery, and 
six persons with bruises only. Such was the nature of the accident, 
that not one of the inanimate persons presented the least appearance 
of suspended animation, they all had evidently been killed by bruises, 
from concussion against the sides of the dock. In the course of the 
night, eight more were grappled up ; and on the following afternoon, 
the body of Mr. Deering, midshipman of his Majesty's ship Victory, 
was discovered in the basin. 

On the day of the launch, the tide rose so rapidly and to so un- 
usual a height that the ship was obliged to be launched sooner than 
was anticipated ; the same great rise of water occasioned such a 



m 

fowerful pressure against the gates of the south-east dock in the 
Basin as to cause them to burst inwards and to carry with impetuous- 
violence into the empty dock, the bridge which rested upon the gates,, 
and the persons who were unfortunately passing over it at the time 
on their way to see the launch. The torrent of water which rushed* 
into the vacant dock below, overwhelmed the unhappy individuals p 
and notwithstanding the active exertions of those who beheld the 
catastrophe, and of the boats which hastened to the spot, but few 
persons were rescued from their perilous situations., 

No human foresight could have averted the dreadful calami- 
ty, it was entirely unconnected with the preparations made for the 
launch ; and it happened at a time when providentially no persons 
were employed at work in the dock, for had that been the case, the 
disaster would have been tenfold greater. 

George Grey, Commissioner. 
Portsmouth Dock-Yard, \lth September, 1825. 

The bodies were interred in Kingston church-yard on Sunday 

evening, attended by a large concourse of spectators. The accident 

was the subject of pulpit-addresses in most places of worship in the 

towns. A subscription was opened for the bereaved families* 



Wells for the supply of her Majesty's fleets from the wharf-side,,, 
for the steam-engines, and for the purposes of the yard, were pro- 
posed by Sir Samuel Bentham, on October the 27th, 1801, and ex- 
ecuted under his superintendence. The original supply not being 
adequate to the demand of two hundred tons daily, a new boring has- 
been finished, eighteen inches in diameter. The water is obtained 
from a stratum of sand, at a depth of near three hundred feet, and 
is so abundant as to rise within twenty-five feet of the surface. For 
securing the dock from fire, an apparatus, was contrived and erected 
by Sir Samuel Bentham, between March the 20th, 1786, April the 
17th, 1796, December the 21st, 1797; continued on October the 
29th, 1799—1801-2, and completed on April the 8th, 1808 : which 
consists of an elevated reservoir, r»to which water is raised by the 
steam-engines, and distributed by pipes (so arranged that the water 
flows by two different courses to the same point), passing by all the 
buildings, along the sides of the docks, and to the jetties ; and means- 
are also provided for raising, supplies of salt or fresh water, and 
forcing it over all the stores, buildings, and ships. 

* s 1799.— Previous to this time, there existed in the centre of the 
yard, a square excavation, three quarters of an acre in extent, lined 
fiitb masonry to a depth of thirty feet below the level of the yasdj, 



21 

used to receive the water when let run out of the docks, so that only 
five or six feet from the bottom was occasionally employed, but the 
twenty-five feet above, up to the level of the yard, were useless. 
This reservoir has been arched over, and above, cellars, stores, 
smiths'-shop, a seasoning-house for timber, the wood-mills and 
steam-engine houses have been erected, and the rest is useful for 
spreading timber, &c* 

MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES. 

1801, April 11. The steam-engine in the Dock-yard set to work for 
the firsttime. — May 16. The standard of the Invincibles landed here 
from Egypt. — June 13. The Dreadnought launched at this Dock- 
yard, after being thirteen years on the stocks ; she was coppered in 
the short space of six hours, on a Sunday, and went out of har- 
bour on the Monday following. July 1. Sixpence a day allowed the 
workmen in the Dock-yard instead of chips. 

1797, December 21. On the occasion of a new set of pumps 
being required for clearing the docks, General Bentham proposed 
giving motion to them by a steam-engine ; and one which had been 
erected at Redbridge was applied to the purpose, being the first 
steam-engine erected and used in Hampshire. Its advantages hav- 
ing been ascertained, one of the engines now used, was erected by 
Messrs. Bolton and Watt, in 1801, and first set to work on the 11th 
of April of that year ; a second has been added to assist, if found 
necessary, or to substitute in case of accident. At a short distance 
from the docks are 

THE WOOD MILLS. 

In these buildings all manner of sawing, turning, boring, rabbet- 
ing, &c. are performed to the amount of above a hundred different 
articles of wood-work, from the boring of a pump forty feet in length, 
to the turning of a button for the handle of a drawer. The machines 
are impelled by steam, and the motions carried on by straps passing 
over drum-heads : all the engine work, and machinery, are so truly 
and firmly put together, and work with such accuracy, the only 
noise arises from the instruments actually in contact with the work 
under execution, and none from the working of the machinery. 
The iron work was made by Mawdsley, and is quite worthy of the 
invention. 

* 1789, March 11, For taking down and rebuilding the north side of the re- 
servoir, 10,000?. — May 16, Began digging the lock of the reservoir — 1790, Ja- 
nuary the 7th, Laid the first stone of the north-east buttress ; the north side of 
the reservoir which was in progress from August the 22nd, 1787, till 1790. — 

1790, Reservoir works, 791. lis. Id.— 1791, Works continued, 315?. 4s. 8d.-r 

1791, Works to the north side of the reservoir, 7639? 14s. 4d. 



22 

About 1802, Mr. Mark Joumbard Brunell, machinist from Ame- 
rica, having completed a working model of certain machines for 
making the shells and sheaves of blocks, and it being the intention 
of Government to introduce, at Portsmouth-yard, a set of machines 
for this purpose, General Bentham, did not hesitate to recommend 
it strongly, as an invention which would construct blocks of every 
description and size, with a degree of accuracy and cheapness hi- 
therto unknown ; such parts of the engines as Brunell had complet- 
ed were transferred to Portsmouth, and in the year 1804 were in 
operation ; but the increased number of machines, improvements 
which suggested themselves to the inventor, the application of en- 
gines for making dead-eyes, trucks, and all kinds of block-makers 
wares, circular and upright saws, lathes, engines for turning pins, 
riveting, polishing, &c, exercised his skill from September 1802 to 
June 1808, when he pronounced it complele in every part, incapa- 
ble of farther improvement, and it now stands a monument to his 
ingenuity, and one of the most extraordinary pieces of mechanism 
in the world, consisting of forty-four engines. From that time they 
have been in full activity, without requiring alteration, little repair, 
and without the aid of the inventor, being attended by the workmen 
only. The quantity of blocks manufactured in one year is from 
130,000 to 140,000, of all sorts and sizes, the total value of which 
is 50,000/. (of which a seventy-four-gun ship requires 1430) ; and 
though in the late war there were in commission one thousand sail 
of ships, this machine was fully adequate to the supply of the whole 
British navy and the Board of Ordnance, and could supply the greater 
part of the ships in the transport service. Four men are able to 
manufacture with the machinery as many blocks as fifty by the old 
method, and six men will furnish as many sheaves as before re- 
quired sixty ; the manual labour required being only to supply the 
wood and remove the blocks from one engine to the other, until 
completed. Mr. Brunell received as compensation, for the working 
model 1000/, one guinea per day for six years, and the savings of 
one year as compared with the contract prices, calculated at 16,621/. 
Supposing, therefore, the cost of the building, steam-engine, ma- 
chinery, interest of money, &c. to amount to 53,000/. and the net 
compensation for profits about 18,000/. ou one year's manufactured 
articles of the value of 50,000/., the whole expense of the concern 
was cleared in four years. 

THE BLOCK MACHINERY. 

The first wing of the building is occupied by upright and circular saws, for 
converting rough timber into scantling ; squaring it, and crop-cutting it into 



23 

a number of parallelopipedons, whose lengths bear the required proportion to the, 
thickness of the log, these pieces are again cut longitudinally, according to the 
thickness required for the shell of the block ; and this operation is performed 
by a ripping-saw. The logs thus cut are taken into the second wing of the 
mills to the Boring-machine, which, by a centre bit applied to the middle of 
the shell, bores a hole for the centre pin of the sheave, whilst another bores 
one, two, or three holes at right angles with the first, to admit the first stroke 
of the chisel, and at the same time to serve for the head of the mortice, or mor- 
tices, according as the extended block is to contain one, two, or three sheaves. 
When thus bored, the log is carried from hence to the Morticing Machine, an 
ingenious piece of mechanism. The block being fixed on a moveable carriage, 
is so contrived as to be made to advance to the cutting-chisel, set fast in a 
moveable frame. Every time the frame, with the chisels, ascends, the block 
in its carriage advances a little, so as to present to the chisels a fresh surface of 
wood to be acted upon at each stroke of their descent ; and this up-and-down 
motion is continued with such rapidity, that chisels make one hundred and 
thirty strokes in a minute, until the prescribed length has been morticed out ; 
when by raising a handle, the machine is stopped precisely when the chisels 
stand at their greatest elevation, and are thus left in a position, ready to com- 
mence a second operation. — After this the blocks are taken to a Circular Saw, 
to have the corners taken off, by which they are reduced to an octagonal shape. 
This saw being fixed in a table the workman has nothing more to do than slide 
each log along the surface in the direction of the line marked out for the saw 
to cut it. The next operation is to place the block upon the Shaping-machine, 
one of the most effective contrivances in the whole of the Wood Mills. It 
consists principally of two equal and parallel circular wheels, moving on the 
same axis, to which one of them is firmly fixed, but on which the other is 
made to slide ; so that these two wheels may be placed at any given distance 
from each other, and blocks of any size admitted between their two rims. For 
this purpose, both rims are divided into ten equal parts, for the reception 
of ten blocks, which are firmly and immovably fixed between the two wheels. 
When the double wheel with its ten attached blocks, is put in motion, the 
outer surfaces of the blocks, or those which are farthest from the centre, strike 
with great violence against the edge of a chisel or gouge, fixed in a moveable 
frame, which being made to slide in a curved direction, in the line of the axis, 
cuts those outward faces of the blocks to their proper curvature, which can be 
altered in any way the workman pleases, by a contrivance attached to the 
cutting tool. As soon as the tool has traversed the length of the block, or the 
space contained between the two peripheries of the wheels, the machine is 
thrown out of the gear, and its velocity checked. The ten blocks are then, by 
a single operation, and without removing them, each turned one fourth part 
round, and another fourth part of their surface brought outwards, which being 
exposed to the cutting instrument, traversing in the same direction as before, 
have the same curvature given to these new surfaces ; a third is then turned 
outwards, and after that the fourth side, when the whole ten blocks are com- 
pletely shaped, and ten other octagonal logs applied to the peripheries to under- 
go the same operation. 

An iron guard is placed between the workman and machine, lest, from the 
velocity with which the wheels revolve, any of the blocks may be thrown off. 

The shell of the block being now morticed, and completely shapen, the last 
operation is performed by the Scoring-machine, which, by cutters, scoops a 
groove round the longer diameter of the block, deepest at the ends, and van- 
ishing to the central hole, for the pin on which the sheave turns. This groove 
is to receive the strap which surrounds the block. 

The Sheaves are made of Lignum Vitae invariably. The machinery, con- 
sisting first of a circular saw, for cutting the wood into proper thickness, these 
scales are next carried to the Crown Saw, which reduces them to a perfect 
circle, and bores the central hole. It is then placed in the Coaking-engine, the 
curious movements of which form three semicircles not concentric with each 
other, nor with the sheaves, but each having a centre equally distant from that 
of the sheaves. The manner in which the cutter traverses from each semicircle 
never fails to attract attention. So accurate is the groove cut for the reception 



24 

of the metalic coak, and so uniform are the latter cast in moulds, that they fit 
each other so nicely that a single tap from a hammer fixes the coak in its place. 
The sheave thus fitted, is taken to the Drilling-machine, kept in constant 
motion, and the moving drill speedily goes through the two coaks and the in- 
termediate wood : a copper pin is then inserted into the holes thus drilled, and 
the sheave is applied under the Riveting Hammer, which strikes with greater 
or less velocity and power, according to the will of the workman. The rivet- 
ing thus performed, the next operation is broaching the central hole on which 
the sheave turns by steel drills or cutters. The last operation is turning the 
groove for the rope round the periphery of the sheave, performed by a lathe, 
which performs this operation and at the same time polishes the surfaces or 
faces ; and this lathe can be adapted to the sheaves of any diameter. 

The iron pins on which the sheaves turn within the mortices of the blocks 
are also made, turned, polished, and fixed by numerous engines in the first 
floor of the mills, and may be seen in full operation. 

" From the first introduction in 1805, for a period of eight years, this esta- 
blishment, together with the Metal mills, and the Millwright's establishment, 
were under the sole direction and management of Sir S. Bentham.'' 

Connected with the wood-mills is the Millwright's establishment, 
where machinery of new kinds, improvements, repairs, plans, draw- 
ings, &c. are executed. 

Mr. W. Kingston, master Mill-wright received, through Baron 
Fagel, a ring, composed of a fine topaz set round with diamonds, 
from his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, as a testimony of the 
sense his Majesty entertained of Mr. Kingston's scientific skill ; and 
his attention displayed to the Dutch Naval Commission in their visit 
to this Dock-yard. 

Along the edge of the harbour, extend 

THE BUILDING-SLIPS. 

and the varied scenes of " Ship-building" (1764. Messrs. Templar 
and Collard contract to complete and finish the works of the new 
Slips.) These siips for building are covered with immense roofs, in 
like manner as the docks, and are formed, together with the adjacent 
space for timber, on fourteen acres of land, taken about the mid- 
dle of the last century (1765) from the mud lands,* and raised to a 
level. On the Western side there has likewise been added a con- 
siderable piece of land, on which the five spacious storehouses are 
erected. It is from this part of the yard that the imposing specta- 
cle of the ship-launch takes place, at which time the public are ad- 
mitted, galleries are erected for the nobility, the shores are gradu- 
ally removed, the wheel is applied, expectation is excited to the 
highest pitch of interest, and at length, amid the shouts of thou- 
sands and the loud burst of martial music, the gigantic fabric, chris- 

* On April 24, 17S0, (being Monday) at four o'clock in the afternoon, be- 
gan the piles for the enlargement of the new ground in his Majesty's dock. 



£5 

tened by the hand of one of England's daughters, or seme noble -of 
the land, rushes into her native element, to bear the meteor flag of 
<Britaiu, and spread her fame and glory throughout theworld. 

The remaining portion of this part of the Arsenal, extending along 
!he harbour to the fortifications, is appropriated to the cistern for 
seasoning timber, stone-masons' yards, saw-pits, stabling, coal-yards, 
and a large boat-house, fully supplied with every description of boat 
ready for instant service : and beyond this a lot-yard and stores for 
decayed timber, &c. which is sold under certain regulations. 

At the landing-place, or King's stairs is a double flight of steps 
and a large guard-house where a company of marines are stationed. 

THE METAL-MILLS AND COPPER-FOUNDRY, 

Consist of an iron-mill, copper-mill, and a copper-refinery, at 
which is smelted and rolled all the old copper which is taken from 
the ships bottoms ; and here also are cast bolts, gudgeons, and 
various other articles of copper used in the navy. The number of 
sheets manufactured in one year of the war amounted to 300,000. 
The copper is melted in vast furnaces of various forms, and after 
a series of preparation is rolled into long sheets by metallic rollers, 
set in motion by a steam-engine of fifty-six horse power. Thirty- 
five tons of ore have been manufactured in these mills in a single 
week. The immense furnaces in every direction ; the hues of the 
flames, from the deepest blue to the most intolerable blaze of in*, 
candescence; the clouds of vapour; the incessant roll of the fly- 
wheels of the steam-engine ; and the changes of the hues of the 
fluid metal, under various degrees of liquefaction — with the deafening 
tones produced by the immersions of the metal in water, keep the 
mind in a constant state of excitement. It requires 5123 sheets of 
copper to cover the bottom of a first-rate ship of war of one hundred 
and ten guns ; and 20 cwt. 3 qrs. 4 lbs. of counter-sunk nails to 
fasten them on, and twenty reams of paper, to be placed between 
the timber and the metal ; a ship of eighty guns requires 3388 sheets, 
and 25 cwt. 3 qrs. 4 lbs. of nails, with seventeen reams of paper ; 
and a ship of fifty guns, 2226 sheets, with 18 cwt. 1 qr. 12 lbs. of 
nails, and fourteen reams of paper. 

1824, February. Sir Humphrey Davy, the President of the Royal 



The -wharfs and dams at the North "boundary of the yard were begun No- 
vember 9th, 1808, and finished May 16th, 1809; and the North, Middle, and 
South Building Slips, from April 8th, 1807, to July 4th, 1809.— 1801, Works 
to North boundary walls and dam, 667Z. 6s. Id.— 1809, Building Slips, 5000Z.— 
1S38. New Slip built by Mr. Bramble. 



26 

Society, and Sir Robert Seppings, Surveyor of the Navy, engaged 
three days at this Dock-yard in directing experiments made at the 
bottoms of the Samarang,28, and Manly gunbrig, which were taken 
into dock for the purpose ; likewise on four boats, coppered under 
their direction, with a view to ascertain, upon a large scale, the ef- 
fect of the galvanic principle, for protecting the copper sheathing 
from corrosion, and, foulness. The plan was not found to answer 
the expectations formed of it. 

THE SM1THERY, OR ANCHOR-FORGE. 

Is on an extensive scale, fires of great magnitude, and masses of 
metal presenting a blaze of effulgence too vivid for the eye, and re- 
sounding under the ponderous sledges of the workmen, while the 
metallic scoriae fly off in every direction. The Herculean forms of 
the artificers afford the finest models of human strength. In this 
Smithery, anchors are manufactured, many of them from 20 to 90 
cwt., yet still in the most exact proportion. These masses are lifted 
on and off the fires by cranes ; and the bellows, which are hung in 
pairs, require machinery to use them. On first entering the manu- 
factory, the blaze and roaring of the fires, and the incessant din, are 
truly awful. At a short distance from these works, extend in the 
form of a square, which is used as a repository for piles of timber, 
the Carpenters, Wheelwrights, and Joiners shops ; and opposite them, 
a broad paved terrace, surrounded by a dwarf wall, shaded by rows of 
trees, the residence of many of the officers. In the centre of the 
square, and opposite these buildings, stands, on a marble pedestal, 
the statue of William the Third, in the Roman costume, the gift of 
Col. Richard Norton, of Southwick-house ; it is enclosed with iron 
palisades, having at each angle the crown ; and on the pedestal is in- 
scribed, 

GULIELMO III. 

Optimo Regi mdccxvii, 
Ricardus Norton hutnillime D. D. 

Thursday, June 9, 1774. King William's effigy finished gilding. 
THE GROANING TREE!! 

1800, May 5. The bells in the house occupied by Mr. Rood, con- 
tinued to ring most violently all day without any apparent cause 
which could be discovered, to the great alarm of the family and 
neighbourhood. So violent, indeed, was the motion of some of 
them, lhat they were actually forced from their fastenings in the 
wall. Strange and unaccountable noises were also heard at this, 



27 

and also at a house, No. 15, in Lombard-street, and at Mr. Peake's 
in the Dock-yard. The noises at the former were at one time a 
continued rapping, like a number of hammers at work; and at 
another, like the falling of some immense building, whilst at the lat- 
ter, continued groans appeared to issue from a large hollow tree near 
the house. These occurrences took place only when a servant girl, 
who had lived in all these places, was present. Portsmouth Paper f 
of that date. 



We now pass the Carver's shop and Mould-loft, in which the or- 
namental parts of naval architecture (the figure-heads, &c.) are ma- 
nufactured ; and near these, some other residences for officers. 

At the entrance of the mould loft which is one hundred and forty 
feet long and thirty six feet wide, is placed the figure head of H.M. 
S. Bellerophon with a tablet beneath, written at the request of Sir 
Frederick Maitland, commemorative of the battles in which the ship 
was engaged, as also of the capture of the Emperor of the French. 

From the reign of Charles the second, to the eighth of George 
the fourth. The following were surveyors of this dock-yard. 



Sir William Batten. 

July 1660. 
Thomas Middleton, Esq. 
Sir John Tippets. 
Edward Dumner, Esq. 
Daniel Fuger, Esq. 
"William Lee, Esq. 
Sir Jacob Ackworth. 
Sir Joseph Allen. 



Sir Thomas Slade. 
William Bateley, Esq. 
John Williams, Esq. 
Edward Hunt, Esq. 
Sir John Henslow. 
Sir William Rule. 
Joseph Tucker, Esq. 
Sir Henry Peake. 
Sir Robert Seppings. 



During the war there were employed, fifteen hundred shipwrights, 
five hundred joiners and carpenters, two hundred smiths, two hun- 
dred and fifty sawyers, two hundred riggers, seven hundred labour- 
ers, three hundred and fifty ropemakers, at an expence of sixty 
thousand per annum. The number now employed is from two to 
three thousand besides officers, clerks, &c. 

THE DOCK CHURCH. 
1785, June 9th, Thomas Parlby, senior, and Thomas Parlby ju- 
nior, and Co. contract to build a church, to be completed in the 
course of that year. It is a neat and elegant building, of the Ve- 
netian style of architecture. The front is surmounted with a co- 
lumniated cupola, in which hangs the bell of the unfortunate Roval 
George. The windows in the lower tier are small, those in the up- 
per very large ; three in front, and six on each side, with a large 
Venetian and side windows to the square recess, in which stands 



fie communion-table. The whole interior is elegant, and remarka- 
bly light, and the galleries are disposed round three sides, with en- 
closed staircases near the front door. The pews are large and hand- 
some, and the Admiral's is furnished with brass rails and curtains. 
The old dock church stood where now are situaied the Admiral's gar- 
dens ; it was similar to Trinity Church, Gosport. 

The church in the dock was originally built by a subscription of 
the resident commissioners, the officers and workmen, for their owa- 
accomodation, and was endowed by a voluntary deduction of their 
pay in perpetuity to the chaplain of the ordinary to officiate therein.. 
On this establishment it continued for near a century : when it be- 
came from the enlargement of the dock necessary to remove the 
scite of it, government took down the old 7 and erected the present 
church at the public expense, upon a larger scale, and since then it 
has been always considered a place of public worship. 

January 8, 1786. Last time of service being performed in the old 
Dock church, by the Rev. Mr. Bayley ; and the last prayer-day 
was on the Wednesday following.— March 10. The church pulled 
down. On February 4, was opened the new Dock church by the 
Rev. Mr. Browne ; the text from Job, third chapter, tenth verse^ 

On Sunday June 29th, 1794, their Majesties, the prince and prin- 
cesses and court attended divine service in this church, prayers were 
read by the Rev. Mr. Howell, and an elegant and loyal discourse 
was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Scott, from the text 6i we will re- 
joice in thy salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our 
banners. The Portsea singers sung the coronation and other an- 
thems, in the chorusses of which the Royal Family were observed 
to join, as did every one present ; after divine services,. the court went 
to see the process of coppering the fine ship, the Prince of Wales,, 
which was completed in nine hours ; on their return all the admirals 
and port captains of the channel fleet, dined with the king, and 
Sir Charles Saxton the commissioner was created a baronet. 

1813, Charges preferred against Mr. Maybee and Sir George Grey, 
by the Rev. Dr. Scott of the Dock Church for a violation of the Con- 
venticle Act of 1670 ; Mr. Maybee fully acquitted, it being merely 
a Sunday school : the charge against Sir G. Grey withdrawn, and 
Dr. Scotts services dispensed with, by Government. 

In the Church is a very splendid monument to the memory of 
Sir Michael Seymour, Bart. K.C.B. who was commissioner of the 
Dock-yard, and died in South America, in 1834. It was erected to 
hrs memory by the ships crew of the Spartiato. 

"She- School of Naval Architecture consists of a simple yet ele- 



2.9 

gant elevation of two stories, from the designs of Edward Hall, 
Esq. It was commenced in 1815, and finished in 1817. On the 
ground -floor, are elegant apartments, rooms for study, and a spaci- 
ous hall ; at the farther extremity are private apartments, with 
a lecture-room. On the upper floor, the model-room ; infirmary, 
housekeeper's apartments, and a long range of sleeping-rooms, se- 
parated by a gallery. Below are spacious vaults, kitchens, &c. 
The stone staircases are of noble proportions, and the porticoes at 
each end of the edifice are much admired. The length of the 
building is 176 feet, breadth 45, height 36, and the whole interior 
is warmed by heated air, distributed through pipes. 

Mr. Bonnvcastle, one of the students, has been appointed Professor 
of Natural Philosophy to a New College in Yirginia, United States. 
He forfeited 500/. by forsaking the British service, after having 
obtained his education in it. 

REGAL AND IMPERIAL VISITS. 

June 22, 1773, at ten o'clock in the morning, King George 11 L 
arrived, under a salute of two hundred and thirty-two pieces of 
cannon, and returned on the Saturday following, with similar ho- 
nours. He was received by all the men in the Dock-yard, having 
green boughs in their hats, and appearing at a distance like a walk- 
ing wood, who gave him three cheers on his approach. He left 
1500/. for the artificers of the different departments ; 350/. to the 
seamen of the Barfleur's yacht ; 250/. to the poor ; and gave those 
in the Dock-yard a week's pay, and half a holiday every day. 

June 4th, 1778, being his Majesty's birth-day, all the men of the 
dock, with the foremen, quartermen, converters, measurers, &c. walk- 
ed in grand procession, with blue ribbons and lauTel branches in their 
hats, and white wands in their hands : they went to the commissioner's 
house and round the yard from the offlcers'-houses, into town to the 
Governor's-house, out at the Landport-gate, so far as Mr. Friend's, by 
Mr. Eyers mill, and having a heavy shower of rain, could not go 
round Kingstone, so turning back went down Queen-street and so 
along the Hard, drew up, gave three cheers, and went home. 

1794. On the 25th June, his Royal Highness Prince Ernest Au- 
gustus and two of the young Princesses arrived here ; and on the 
following day his Majesty George 111. Queen, and the three other 
Princesses, arrived at the Commissioner's house in the Dock-yard, 
at eleven o'clock. The Royal visitors on the same day proceeded 
in their barges to Spithead, and went on board the Queen Charlotte 
under a grand salute from the garrison, forts, and fleet. They then 



30 

went round the fleet, and returned to the Commissioner's house. 
The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses were received on Friday the 
27th, at the Governor's house. On Saturday, his Majesty and Roy- 
al party witnessed the launch of the Prince of Wales, 98 guns, took 
a second trip to Spithead, and went on board the Amphion, examin- 
ed the Dock-yard, and on Monday left for Southampton. 

THE PORT ADMIRAL'S HOUSE. 

Previous to the erection of the original, or, as it was called, the 
Old Commissioner's House, the principal officers of the dock resid- 
ed in Portsmouth. The first house for the Commissioner was com- 
menced in the year 1664, and completed in 1666 ; it was situated on 
the north side of the old rope-house, and was that in which George 
the Third resided in 1773. This house not being large or conve- 
nient, a new and elegant mansion was erected, between 1782-86, 
on the site of the old church, at an expense of 20,000/. — the origi- 
nal estimate being 12,000/. It consists of a noble centre, with a 
handsome portico and two wings, the left or northernmost is appro- 
priated to official offices ; the private apartments are elegant and 
well-disposed. The front is separated from the yard by a range of 
iron-railing, with an approach for carriages, planted with shrubs and 
poplars, Before this roadway is a large square lawn, and in the rear 
of the house are extensive grounds and gardens, well planted and 
extending to the dock-wall. In this mansion the Emperor Alexan- 
der of Russia dwelt during the Royal and Imperial Visit in 1814. 
The Emperor arrived in the night of Wednesday June 22, and on 
Friday accompanied by the Regent, the King of Prussia, and a 
vast train of nobility viewed the Dock-yard and expressed his high 
approbation of the ingenuity, and order of the whole : at taking fi- 
nal leave, the Emperor presented Sir George Grey, his host on the 
occasion, with a ring of superb workmanship with the letter A in the 
centre, and the imperial crown over it set in large diamonds as a 
mark of esteem. In 1817, the Grand Duke Nicholas, (Emperor 
of Russia 1838) visited this arsenal. 

At a short distance, on the right, is a large and handsome guard- 
house built in 1796, with a suite of apartments for the officers, and 
accommodation for a numerous body of soldiers ; and near this 
stands the Pay Office, containing every convenience — the cash and 
record rooms being built of fire proof materials from a design of 
Sir Samuel Bentham ; round the building extends a spacions piaz- 
za. 

The Police Establishment of this Dock-yard consists (besides the 



31 

Superintendent) of three Inspectors, at 100/. per annum each 
three Sergeants and 36 Constables. 

The Royal Naval College was founded by George the Second in 
1720, and was much improved and enlarged under the auspices of 
George the Third, at whose particular request its original name of 
Royal Academy was changed. The building is of dark brick, and 
of very great extent, being in form of the letter H. and contains 
mauy noble apartments. Above the centre staircase, is a capacious 
dome surmounted by a gilt ball. In one of the appartments were 
some fine astronomical instruments, and a large orrery, made by the 
ingenious Mr. Wright. The superb model of the Victory (originally 
here) has been removed to the Navy-office, London. In the school- 
room was a large tablet of the arms of the City of Quebec, taken 
from above the principal gateway after its capture by General Wolfe. 
To the left of the Hall was the dining-room, communicating with the 
Professor's apartments, occupying the whole left wing. The apart- 
ments of the Lieutenant-governor were handsome and well disposed : 
to the left was a large hall, and a second noble room occupies the 
right wing ; behind extend ranges of apartments. This establish- 
ment was abolished in 1837. 

THE ORDNANCE GUN-WHARF 

Extends over a space of fourteen acres, along the northern edge 
of the haven, but is very irregular in its shape. This Gun-wharf 
was begun in 1662. The contractor for its construction was named 
William Shakespeare, and the excavations between Hanover and 
Union-streets, behind several parts of the old Rope Walk, extending 
even to Queen-street, were formed by the removal of the soil (by 
permission of the Corporation) for the purpose of raising the shores 
of the harbour to a certain level, much of the land being gained 
from the sea. The Shakespeare's Head, in Bishop-street, was so 
called from the workmen being paid there. The Storekeeper's old 
office, and two or three adjoining stores, were built in 1669, as ap- 
pears from a date on the interior of one of the window-frames. The 
officers' houses, in front of which are several rows of lofty trees, 
and a pleasant green, enclosed by rails, &c. were erected in 1719. 
The centre house was formerly occupied by the officers of the Royal 
Artillery, and still retains its original title of " The Barracks." Be- 
hind these houses are large gardens, well stocked with fruit-trees, 
extending to the boundary wall at the Hard. Under the Duke of 
Richmond, Master-General of the Ordnance, the establishment was 
much enlarged and improved. The new Armoury, which presents 



itself immediately on entering the gates (after passing the Mill Re- 
doubt of the Garrison), was built by his direction in 1797, for the 
reception of 21,000 stand of arms. It is a handsome building of 
white brick and stone, covered with copper. He also directed the 
formation of the carriage storehouses on the green in the same year. 
The long sea-stores, for containing the various implements for ship- 
ping were formed at the commencement of the establishment. In 
front of these is a large building which in the war was appropriated 
to the reception of the battering-train, called the Commissariat Store. 
The whole of these buildings, together with a variety of carpenters' and 
smiths' shops, and an extensive wharf, constitute the old Gun-wharf, 
the entrance-gates of which form one of the boundary marks of the 
town of Portsea. These were rebuilt in 1807, previous to which 
time the entrance was through two archways on each side of a pair 
of large gates, on the piers of which were placed drums, and over 
each archway the Ordnance Arms: they were not so lofty as the 
present. The new Gun-wharf is united to the original establish- 
ment by a revolving bridge thrown across a canal or lake, which 
carries the water from the mill-dam. 

During the mutiny at Spithead there was a strong battery made 
on the wharfs to protect the mouth of the harbour, and the gates 
were defended by mortars. 

The civil establishment consists of a Storekeeper, Deputy-store- 
keeper, a number of gentlemen as clerks, and about 150 men. 

Connecting the Gun-wharf and the Dockyard are large spaces 
called Timber pounds, on each side the Portsea Hard or landing- 
place ; here is kept the timber for the use of the Areenal ; the space 
is familiarly known by the name of " The Logs" from the mode by 
which it is enclosed from the sea. 



THE 



HISTORY 



TOWN OF PORTSEA, 



THE MUNICIPAL WARDS OF SAINT JOHN AND SAINT 
GEORGE, PORTSMOUTH. 



HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ 



PORTSMOUTH : 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



THE TOWN OF PORTSEA. 

** INFRA MUROS." 



" THE PRINCE OF DENMARK." 

In the early part of tbe reign of Queen Anne, in consequence of 
the great population of Portsmouth, arising from the increased im- 
portance of the navy, and the establishments connected with it, the 
shipwrights and artificers of the dock-yard began to build in the 
common field, then called West Dock Field. General Gibson, lieu- 
tenant-governor of Portsmouth, conceiving with the eye of a soldier 
that buildings so close to the town would considerably mask and 
otherwise interfere with the fortifications, sent an order to the per- 
sons who were building, commanding them to desist, accompanied 
with a threat that if they proceeded, he would point the guns of the 
garrison, and beat the houses down. Soon after this, the Queen, 
with Prince George of Denmark, visited Portsmouth, and while at 
the Commissioner's house, the shipwrights sent a deputation, with a 
memorial to the Queen on the subject. Her Majesty was in some 
measure disposed to leave the matter to the direction of the Gover- 
nor, but the Prince interfering with good humour in behalf of the 
memorialists, the Governor was sent for, the matter soon arranged, 
and the builders met with no farther interruption ; the houses, ac- 
cordingly, from this time, went on rapidly, and, in gratitude to the 
Prince, the first street was named " Prince George's street." 



Portsea,* situate north of Portsmouth, is very extensive, and has 
arisen within the last hundred and thirty years, there being in 1700 
only one hovel on a large common. On the edge of the harbour is 

* The town of Portsea now covers what was, within the last century, an 
extended waste, and was till the passing of the Paving Act, 1792, generally 
known by the name of Portsmouth Common. The first part built was what 
are called ' the New Buildings,' at the farther extremity, where was formerly 
the entrance to the Dock -yard. During the American War the town increased 
with wonderful Tapidity, and now exceeds Portsmouth in extent and popula- 
tion. 



a range of houses called the Hard, [formerly the old buildings,] the 
principal road to the Dock ; and the Portsea landing place. 

Here loyalty, on high, in gothic shrine, 

Has caused our late illustrious Queen to shine. 

The town is divided by a very long street, called Queen-street, 
extending from the Dock to the Lion-gate, from which several streets 
pass to the Old Rope-walk in right angles, viz. Union, Bishop, and 
Hanover-streets, White's-row ; to College-street, through the me- 
dium of Hawke and Havant-streets, and to Ordnance-row, 

In line with which is found the busy hive, 
Where Israel's sons their various traffic drive, 
And many a gazing passenger is caught 
With treasures rich as those from Egypt brought. 

There is also a very large space of ground called St. George's- 
square, communicating with Queen-street by means of St. James's- 
street, and at the farther extremity with the road leading to Ports- 
mouth along the edge of the moat. On the right-hand side of 
Queen-street is another part of Portsea, very extensive; consisting 
of many streets, known by the names of Daniel, Cross, North, 
Prince George's, King, and Cumberland, with Chapel and Marl- 
borough rows, consisting of private houses, and Frederick-street, 
narrow but of considerable length, leading to the water's edge : 
where the last is, was formerly a large rope-walk planted with trees, 
and provided with benches. 

Beyond ihis is the part called " The Buildings," this is a small 
suburb or town in miniature, in front of which is a Hard ; and from 
hence is the usual place of embarkation to the ships in Ordinary. 

" A burlesque ceremony of electing a Mayor and Corporation for 
the Buildings, formerly took place here annually with much buf- 
foonery and licentiousness," as a festival on May day. 

Boundaries of Portsea, olini Portsmouth Common : — 

From the centre of the road, close to the gate leading from Portsea to the 
King's mill, (the Gun-wharf gate) along the mill pond of Mr. Legg's dam, at 
the north end of the mill pond there— thence excluding the said dam round the 
side of the mill pond, to Sir Thomas Jlidge's dam, and thence along the end of 
the dam to the King's land — thence along a level line to the place were King- 
well-pound stood — thence along by Sir T. Ridge's starch-house, to the Ports- 
mouth turnpike-road — thence across the road to Sir T. Ridge's mallhouse — 
thence back again close along the malthouse and garden-wall to the King's-land 
opposite King-well-pound — thence round the eastern side of the King's-land 
to the sea at Flat-house, to the low-water mark there — then along low-water 
mark to Her Majesty's Dock-yard — thence round Her Majesty's Dock-yard, 
close to the sea, to the southern boundary of the Dock to low-water mark — 
thence to Her Majesty's Gun-wharf — then up to the high-water mark, close to 
the Gun -wharf — thence close to the wall of the Gun-wharf on the land side 
(excluding the Gun-wharf) to the centre of the gate (the Gun- wharf gate). 



3 

This space may be shortly defined as extending round the external 
Glacis of the Portsea lines, and low-water mark on the sea side. 

Portsea was originally called Portsmouth Common, being erected 
on the waste lands of the corporation, and fields belonging to the 
College of Winchester ; much of the former will be enfranchised. 

" 1680, Theophilus Curtis, Esq. mayor of Portesmuth, and the 
alderman and burgesses, demise and bequeath to Thomas Burt and 
W. Cleverly, for nine hundred years, at a yearly rent of ten shill- 
ings and one fat capon, a piece of waste land, the most part some- 
time overflown with sea-water." On this now stands Butcher-street. 

Quit-rents and Leases. Mr, Howard said there were leases in 
all parts of the borough, most of them for a thousand years ; when 
they cease, they are renewed upon a fine. Has any lease been 
lately granted ? No, none since 1818. Corporation Commission, 

In St. George's Square is an Obelisk and large Gas Lamp, pre- 
sented by Messrs Barlow, brothers. 

After the passing of the Parliamentary Reform bill, the whole of 
the square was converted into a dining-place, and many hundred 
people dined in the open air. 

Evidence before the Commissioners : the Paving Acts. The first 
act for paving Portsea (then described as Portsmouth Common) was 
passed in the fourth year of the reign of George the Third; a 
second act in 1792 ; and on the 5th of May, 1826, a third for 
improving the roadway, and lighting the streets with gas or oil. 

The paving is done by contract ; 600/. per annum, is collected 
from the inhabitants before whose houses alterations and repairs 
are made ; besides this, there are five sixpenny rates in two years, 
which amount to 1300/. per annum ; this defrays the lighting, 
watching, and sundry expenses. The watching is now under the 
direction of the Town Council, and the watch-houses are on the hard, 
and near St. George's Church in the square. 

FORTIFICATIONS OF PORTSEA. 

Under the direction of the late General Fisher, the works were 
much improved, and new sluices and towers erected in the moats ; 
a deep and wide fosse was cut from the Portsmouth-works, along 
the edge of the London-road to the Mill-dam, [a large sheet of water 
of many acres in extent,] by which fosse the New Fortifications 
round Portsea are united with the old works, These gigantic Ram- 
parts, which encircle the town in a semicircular form and extend, for 
nearly two miles in all the strength of modern improvement, were 
commenced in 1770, under the direction, and at the suggestion of 



Ifte Duke of Richmond, who received may valuable hints from the; 
celebrated Major Cartwright. The first regiment employed was the 
23rd. The walls are of great height, and the ditches and ravelins of 
vast extent, with covered ways, and lines in all directions. The 
various bastions are much larger than those of Portsmouth, and in 
the internal angles are extensive paddocks of pasture land, and a 
parade ground. The whole are thickly studded with thriving tim- 
ber, which adds, by the luxuriance of its foliage, to the beauty of the 
place. In the lines are two magnificent gates, called the Lion and 
Unicorn gates, from the respective figures in the entablature. The 
architecture, both on the internal and external part, is bold, grand 
and effective. These Ramparts pass close to the inner part of the 
harbour, and completely defend the arsenal. One of the bastions 
in the mill-dam presents a beautiful appearance at the time of high- 
water : and the lake (which was formerly of at least double the ex- 
tent, reaching to Lake-lane at Halfway Houses) adds much to the 
strength of the garrison. A new stone Bridge has been thrown 
across a part of this take, communicating with Portsea from the 
London turnpike-road ; and the bridges before the principal gates, 
are of east iron, erected 1827-8. The external glacis, of many 
acres in circumference, was formerly pasture land, belonging to Sir 
Thomas Ridge, whose house is at this time the residence of the Com- 
mandant of the Artillery, opposite Ridge's Pond. At the comer of 
the lake close to the London road, about four hundred yards from the 
Land-port, formerly stood a small chapel, called Magdalen Chapel ; 
not many years since some visible traces remained. Where the 
Mill-dam reaches the Gun-wharf, is a large bastion, with gateways 
leading to Portsea ; this may be rather considered an outwork of 
the Portsmouth Lines ; it is strong, and defends the King's-mill 
and the canal of the Gun-wharf. The Ordnance erected a broad 
road-way, from near this Bastion, to the new offices on the Mill-dam 
Parade, using the materials of the old Government-house, in 1829. 

Beyond the Unicorn gate, in a large paddock, and surrounded by 
gardens, &c. is the Royal Laboratory, the manufactory for cartridges 
for the army. On the Mill-dam is a large brick building erected a 
few years ago, as the offices of the Royal Engineer department: 
within, it is very convenient and well adapted. This building is 
erected on ground gained from the Mill-dam ; and the extensive 
space behind, enclosed by high walls, was in 1800, also overflowed 
daily by the tide. The principal military stations are, a guard near 
the King's-mill, some larger ones at the principal gateways, and at 
stated parts of the Dock-yard, at Bonfire comer, &c. The Military 



Hospital, a small wooden erection, is in an open space near the 
Lion-gate; a new building has lately been added to it. Behind 
this hospital, were, during the war, very extensive barracks; being 
of wood, they were sold and entirely removed in 1816. In 1758-9, 
" Government purchased sixteen acres, three roods, and twenty 
rods of marsh land, near Portsea lake, called the Great Marsh, 
from William Pike, Esq. ; and also certain pasture lands, gar- 
dens and cottages, near the same ; also sixteen acres, two roods 
and twenty -three rods of land, called Breach, and certain garden 
ground, and a tenement called Griffin's Tenement barn, and 
yard in the possession of William Watmore ; also two acres three 
roods, thirty-one rods, part of a close called Moor Close or Morrice 
Close ; also two acres, three roods and one rod, part of a close 
called Hambrook ; also one acre, three roods, and twenty rods, part 
of a close called Haven's Croft, — the last three pieces of land being 
in Portsea, near the Fortifications of Portsmouth." 

1759, April 10. For compensation to the proprietors of land 
near Portsmouth, purchased for securing the Dock 6937/. 13s. 7%d. 
Interest of ditto, 4159/. 4s. 8%d.; In the session of Parliament for 
1759, 36,966/. 2s. lOd. were voted for the defences of various docks ; 
and in the year following, 1760, the House took into consideration 
the claims of the proprietors of the lands. Upon which a bill being 
founded, soon passed into a law, without opposition, in the year 1761. 
Doubts and difficulties having arisen touching the execution of the 
said act, Parliament voted 634/. 13s. Id. for interest on the sum of 
23,800/. lis. lid. remaining in the Office of Ordnance, and not 
paid into the hands of the Deputy of the King's Remembrancer of 
the Court of Exchequer. 

MUNICIPAL HISTORY. 

Rate Amt of 
Payers Rating 

St. John's Ward, or Portsea North — (six~ 
Councillors.) — The north side of Queen-street, f 1 oaa QQ4.fi 
in a line from the Lion Gates to the Dock-gates,' 
including the Dock -yard. 

St. George's Ward, or Portsea South- 
Councillors.) — The south side of Queen-street, in f l ^ni 11 ono 
a line from Lion Gates to the Dock-gates, J«*»i»^ f 
ing the Old Gun-wharf. 



uth — (six "J 
-street, in f -. t 
s, includ- £ '" 



The elections of Members of Parliament for the Borough takes 
place in booths erected in Saint George's Square. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, CHURCHES, CHAPELS, &c. 

Church Accommodation in Portsea. 

From a representation laid before his Majesty in 1835, it appears 
that St. George's Church, 1000 persons, without any free seats : 
Saint John's Church 1600 persons, and 200 seats appropriated to the 
poor. 

SAINT JOHN'S DISTRICT. 

Is thus described in the order of council of March 4th, 1835, with 
the consent and under the seal of the bishop of Winchester. The 
boundary to commence at the Lion Ravelin Gate, to be drawn through 
the centre of Queen Street, and to continue along the wall of the 
Dock-yard, westward to the harbour ending at the Dock-yard gates, 
to comprise the Dock-yard and to be bounded on the west and north 
sides by the harbour, and on the east side by the boundary of All 
Saints district, ending at the Lion Ravelin Gate. 

By this order Baptisms and Churchings may be performed in 
this and the other district churches. One moiety of the fees for 
the same belonging respectively to the minister of the district church. 

THE CHURCH OF SAINT GEORGE. 

In the centre of the square at Portsea, to which it has given a 
name, built by subscription, under the provisions of an act of par- 
liament in 1753. It is a handsome well-built brick structure, sixty- 
four feet square, containing two tiers of five large windows, and a 
noble Venetian window behind the communion-table. The interior 
is neat and well adapted ; four elegant pillars support the centre ; 
it is well pewed, and the galleries are arranged on three sides, in the 
front one of which was erected in 1773 a beautiful and well-toned 
organ. It has lately undergone repair, more especially the front, 
and cupola above. The whole is enclosed by a lofty wall and gates, 
The ground was granted by the Corporation of Portsmouth for one 
thousand years. The nomination of the clergyman is vested in the 
vicar of Portsea ; but in case of lapse, in the proprietors of the 
seats. John Ring, Esq. of Portsea, left 50/. to Crapp's charity, 
which is attached to St. George's Church, Portsea. 

THE CHURCH OF SAINT JOHN. 

In Prince George's-street, Portsea, was erected by subscription 
in 1787, and consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester in 1789. 
Externally it presents a fine elevation, the front embellished with a 
Venetian window and fan-light over the entrance. The two stories 



mi either side have each two elegant windows and wings containing 
the staircases ; and there is a clock and bell in a lofty cupola above 
the entrance. The interior is in the florid style of Venetian archi- 
tecture. In four of the six compartments dividing the side-walls, 
are large sash-windows, both above and below ; a spacious gallery, 
supported by small columns and enlightened by a large window, ex- 
tends round three sides ; the communion-table, which is of marble, 
is in a semicircular recess, separated by a screen of fluted Corinthian 
columns from the body of the church, and on each side are doors 
leading to the vestry and organ-gallery above, in which is a noble 
instrument. The recess is decorated in imitation of marble, and on 
the pannels are appropriate scriptural texts, &c. The cornices and 
pannels are of stucco, and the arched ceiling is supported by four 
Corinthian columns, with their acanthus, &c: the cornices are de- 
corative and appropriate; while the chandeliers, elegant pulpit and 
reading-desk, and the pews adorned with mahogany, render this fa- 
bric impressive to every person of real taste. Attached is a resi- 
dence for the minister, in the same style of architecture. It was 
projected and erected by two architects John Monday and John 
Sheen, from designs of Mr. Vass, an officer of the dock-yard. 

June 4, being his Majesty's birth day, the foundation stone of St. 
John's church, in Prince George's-street, was laid at eleven o'clock 
A.M. by the Rev. — Bollard, Vicar of Portsea. 

Expenses of Building the Church, (from a copy of the Contract.) 
Bricklayers' work 9691, 8s. Plasterers' work (including ornaments of 
the ceiling valued at ten pounds) 134/. Is. \d. Stone Masons' work, 
including Marble Slab, for the communion table, and the marble 
font valued at 9/. 5*.— 394Z. 10s. Slaters' work 231/. Plumbers' work 
23/. 2*. Glaziers 78/. 4* Painters 92/. 9*. Smiths, including bell 
107/. Carpenters including the pulpit, valued fifty pounds, and the 
cupola valued one hundred pounds 1954/. 6s. organ and act of par- 
liament 500/. the Communion Plate 40/. Pulpit cloth, curtains, &c. 
38/. Consecration 18/. Surveyor 100/. Chandeliers 46/. the land and 
conveyance 1872/. cleaning 1/. Minister's house 350/. total 6966/. 

1822, January 25. The Rev. William Stevens Dusautoy, Clerk, 
unanimously nominated and presented to the perpetual curacy of St. 
John's Chapel, Portsea, by the proprietors thereof; and appointed 
Lecturer of the said Chapel ; both void by the death of the late Rev 
William Howell. He was succeeded by the Rev. Edmund Dewdney. 

The Church of the Roman Catholic faith is in Prince George's- 
street, near the church of St. John. It is a small building, and has 
b«en erected about forty-five years. Above the high altar is a frne 



8 

picture, in a noble gilt frame, of "Christ stilling the tern pest," painted 
by Sir Robert Kerr Porter ; and in the gallery is a neat organ. 
Attached to this church is a residence for the officiating priest. 

-Kerr Porter I here thy skill 



Has to dull canvass given form and life : 
With out-stretched hand, and eye devoutly raised 
Lo ! the Redeemer stills the boisterous waves. 
And bids the roaring tempest sink in sleep ! 



In Daniel-street, is a large chapel, purchased by the " Metho- 
dists" a few years since, and still used by them. It is a neat, white 
brick building. Over the principal front was, a short time since, a 
square cupola, with a gigantic figure of St. Peter, holding in his 
hand a key — from which the chapel acquired the name of " St. 
Peter's." It was originally a free church, erected by subscription 
for the use of an eccentric clergyman, named Pennington, who had 
attracted many followers : first by preaching in the open air, and 
afterwards in a private room. The Church of England forms were 
adhered to, but the church was exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. 
In it was an organ, remarkable for the peculiar beauty of its tone : 
it was sold for a trifling sum when the church was purchased by the 
Wesleyan Methodists. A new one has been lately erected, but it 
will bear no comparison with the original instrument. 

On Monday, October 1, began digging the foundation of Mr. 
Pennington's chapel, in Daniel-street, which was opened for divine 
service on Sunday the 30th of March, 1780. 

There are several other chapels : — Two of the Particular Bap- 
tists — the neat and spacious one in Meeting- House Alley, of which 
Mr. D. Miall, was long Pastor ; and another in White' s-Row ; with 
both of which are connected Schools and other benevolent institu- 
tions. 

April 29, 1782, On Monday, the new Baptist Meeting-house in 
White's-row on the common, was commenced, the foundation being 
laid, and its was consecrated on Wednesday morning, October. 30, 
in this year. 

The old Concert Room in the Square is now a chapel. 

Mr. Daniel Mial, aged 87 years, one of the oldest inhabitants of 
the town, and Pastor of the Baptist Church in Meeting-house-alley : 
was one of the most laborious and useful Ministers of his day, and 
the estimation in which he was held was evinced by the attendance 
of some thousands of the inhabitants to witness his funeral, which 
took place at the Cemetery, where his remains were deposited, in a 
new vault, the pall was supported by six Ministers. 



9 

la White^s-row, is the Jewish Synagogue, founded originally ia 
A. M. .5502 (1742,) by subscription of the then small congregation* 
acting principally on the suggestion of Abraham Woolfe. It was 
-rebuilt in A, M. 5540 (1780,) on a larger and much handsomer 
scale; the date being on a large itone in front of the edifice. The 
interior is adorned with gilding, six elegant chandeliers, and brazen 
candlesticks. The ark (in the centre of which are the tables of the 
law) is of solid mahogany, surrounded ny mahogany rails, and erect- 
ed at an expense of 200£. In the centre of the building is the read- 
ing-desk and elders' seats, surrounded with mahogany rails ; a gal- 
lery above is appropriated for females, in front of which is a clock, 
and the King 1 s arms. The seats of the chapel will accommodate 
two hundred persons ; and attached is a large and elegant vestry- 
room. Service is performed here three times on each Saturday, and 
twice on every other day. The Jewish feurial-ground is about a 
mile to the eastward of the town. 

On March 22, 1812. The foundation-stone of anew Independent 
Chapel was laid in King-street, Portsea, by the Rev. John Griffin, 
whose increased Congregation, in Orange-street Chapel, occasioned 
he necessity for the building. 

September 2.- The spacious new Chapel, erected in King-street, 
Portsea, opened on Wednesday, the Rev. W. Jay, of Bath, and the 
Rev. Rowland Hill, of Surrey Chapel, preached on the occasions 
after which upwards of 350/. were collected in aid of the funds of 
the Chapel. The Hampshire Association of Independent Ministers, 
for sending teachers into villages that are destitute of religious in- 
struction, was held the next day ; the Rev. D. Bogue preached : 
62f. were collected. A meeting of Sunday School teachers of poor 
-children was held in the morning, at the Old Chapel, in Orange- 
street ; and after their business was transacted, upwards of a thou- 
sand teachers and their friends breakfasted together, Mr. Johnson, 
of Farnhara, in the chair : the son of Touissant L'Overture, Gover- 
nor of St. Domingo, who had embraced Christianity, addressed the 
company^ there were four thousand persons in and round the Cha~ 
pel : several hundreds went away, unable to obtain admittance. 

The present minister is the Rev. T. Cousins : the Chapel is a very- 
large and lofty structure, ninety-five feet long, and seventy-five 
broad. It will seat two thousand five hundred iieareTS, and contain, 
when crowded, three thousand. The expense of its erection was be- 
tween 10 and 11,000/.; and it was opened for public worship oat 
September 8, 1813. 

The old chapel in Orange-street has been converted in*© Ssnd^j 



10 

school-rooms and alms-houses, for the poor of the congregation 
principally from the success of a Bazaar at the Beneficial Society's 
Hall, 158/. were received for admission and articles sold, which ena- 
b led the Trustees to render the apartments safe and comfortable for 
the aged inmates, and to perpetuate the use of the building for 
many years to come. 

THE FUNERAL OF THE REV. J. GRIFFIN 

On April 26, 1834. The solemnities commenced by the body 
being removed to the chapel in King-street, hung round with the 
insignia of mourning. The body was placed beneath the pulpit, 
and the service commenced by singing, prayer offered, and, a pa- 
thetic funeral oration ; the coffin was removed, and the procession 
then left for the burial ground. 

Two chariots containing the professional friends of the deceased, 
preceded the hearse, followed by eight mourning coaches, contain- 
ing, the family of the deceased ; Pall Bearers : senior Ministers, 
Deacons, Ministers and Members of the Hants Association, Minis- 
ters of other denominations, Members of the Congregation. 

As the corpse passed the gates of the town, the guard being nut, 
presented arms, in honor of one whose excellence was testified by 
the multitudes that were following him. On reaching the burial 
ground, the procession was met by the Vicar, (the Rev. C. B. Hen- 
ville, M.A.) who read the funeral service. The solemnities being 
closed, the same order was observed in returning. Nearly every 
house was closed in the different streets through which the mourn- 
ful spectacle moved, and the crowds on the tops of the houses, at 
the windows, and lining all the streets, evinced the interest felt in 
the loss of so good a man. In the evening, a crowded auditory as- 
sembled, when, after singing, and prayer offered, a most eloquent 
seTmon was preached, from Numbers, xx chapter, 25th, and follow- 
ing verses ; the service was closed by prayer. 

The character of the Rev, J. Griffin. He was a man, in whom the 
principles of religion, appeared in all their excellence. The solidity 
of his judgment, the simplicity of his style, the sincerity of his 
manner, the pathos of his address, aided by a voice rich and harmo- 
nious in its accents, the scriptural nature of his discourses, rendered 
him the object of popularity for forty years ; and when infirmity 
appeared, he was heard with delight, by thousands, who bore evi- 
dence of affectionate regard, by a constant attendance in his minis- 
try. No one ever filled an extensive sphere of influence with a more 
consistent character* 



11 

THE HALL OF THE BENEFICIAL SOCIETY. 

In the Old Rope-walk, Portsea, stands the Hall of the Beneficial 
Society, erected from the funds of the society by Messrs. Sheen and 
Munday, from a design of Mr. Hay the naturalist. 

The site of this building was originally a large pond and swamp, 
which with a long rope-walk extended to Queen-street. 

1785, April 7, on Thursday morning the foundation of the Bene- 
ficial Society's Hall laid ; and the society first walked in procession 
to the new chapel on October 14, when Mr. Shaw officiated and the 
Vicar Preached. — November 15, the first grand concert of vocal and 
instrumental music was performed in this hall, and the school was 
opened January 9, 1786. 

It is a truly noble building, consisting of a magnificent hall of 
great extent, long, lofty, and lighted by a range of windows on one 
side, and a fine Venetian window at the extremity. The rooms be- 
low are appropriated to a school-room for the education of a great 
number of children. The society is one of the oldest in the king- 
dom, and among its members are many of the most respectable per- 
sons in the neighbourhood and^county. The anniversary is held 
on the first Monday in October, when, after attending divine ser- 
vice at St. George's church, and the customary business of the day 
being gone through, the members partake of a splendid banquet. 
At other times the hall is used for concerts, public meetings, balls, &c. 

July 24, 1836. The foundation stone of the new building to 
form part of the hall and school, laid by E. Carter, Esq. Mayor : 
on this occasion (being their first appearance in public) the new 
Corporation appeared without the robes of office, in honor of the 
principle of the municipal act, certainly not in honor of their cor- 
porate capacity. Mayor, aldermen and burgesses, were mingled 
in one tumultuous throng of people, who not knowing how to dis- 
tinguish those who had been invited to honour the occasion, behaved, 
as the mob always will, with much rudeness. 

The hall has been materially altered within these few years, the 
ceiling coved and elevated, and the interior rendered much more 
ornamental from designs by Mr. Courtney ; a convenient gallery 
has been erected at one end, and it is lighted by three large gas 
chandeliers in the style called " a la Louis Quatorze." 

There is on one side a large portrait of the Sailor King, (William 
IV.) from the easel of the late Mr, Cole : a portrait of Sir John 
Carter presented by D. Howard Esq. and a second of Dr. Porter. 
Slabs of lettered marble in the walls commemorate donations. 



If 

^n abstract from the return of Schools, in the parish of Fortseafj, 
miade by order of Government . — Sunday schools connected with the 
Established Church, five, containing 751 children ; Independents, 
four, containing 840 children ; Baptists, seven, 1414 children ; 
Methodists, five, containing 1027 children. — Total, 24 schools, con- 
taining 4219 children, — Charity and private day schools^ 174, con- 
taining 4653 scholars. — Number of Inhabitants, 38,199. 

MEGHANI CS? INSTITUTE. 

In February 1825, were issued prospectuses with a view to its formation, of 
which the following is a copy. 

" Institutions for the instruction of mechanics, in the philosophical princi- 
ples of the arts they practise, have been formed in London, and several of the 
principal towns ; the happiest results having arisen from them. The mechanics- 
of these towns^and neighbourhood, who may wish to see a Mechanics' Institute 
established, are invited to leave their names at the residence of Henry and 
Julian Slight, Surgeons,, of whom farther particulars may be obtained; and 
if there should appear, as the result of this invitation r a probability of suc- 
cess in so desirable an object — that the mechanics themselves are anxious for 
such an institution, and that they witt support it — a meeting will be called, for 
submitting a plan for such an Institute. 

But a few days have elapsed, since, by means of our circular, proposals for 
the formation of a Mechanics' Institute or School of Arts have been made pub- 
lic; we have received the names of so many Master Manufacturers, Mechanics- 
and Apprentices, that the appeal has been answered.. A meeting will be called 
and care taken, that those who have already and who shall hereafter favour us 
with their names — are well advertised when and where it is held. 

Henry & Julian Slight, 100, High-street ; Saturday Evening, February 
12, 1825." 

Shortly after this a Public Meeting was held, certain laws adopt- 
ed, and on the 24th of October, Daniel Howard, Esq. delivered the in- 
troductory lecture. The sessions are from November to March ; a 
library is established for the use of the members, and lectures are 
delivered on every Monday evening. This institution was originally 
held in the old Town-hall Portsmouth ; but on its being sold, was 
removed to its present situation the old synagogue in Daniel -street, a 
place afterwards occupied by a preacher, whose eccentricities may 
perhaps be judged of by the following paragraphs. 

The Minister of the Independent chapel, Daniel-street, Portsea, 
intends delivering Two Lectures in his chapel, to demonstrate the 
truth of Christianity, in opposition to Infidelity. — The first, oo v 
Wednesday January 20th. at seven in the evening; the second, the 
Wednesday following. This gentleman (who has been all his life 
In the Army and Navy) possesses considerable natural talent, but 
from want of a more spacious place of worship, his energies are 
completely cramped.— The new edition of his interesting memoirs 
may be had at 49 Queen-street, Portsea, price \s. Gd. It is called 
* 6 The Wonder ! or the Life of Isaac Carter— written by him- 

■rff," 



13 

THE HAMPSHIRE LIBRARY 

In the rooms of the Society, in Ordnance-row. This Institution 
has been established 37 years. The first President was Sir John 
Carter. At a cost of nearly 3000/. an extensive and valuable 
Library has been gradually accumulating. While part of the in- 
come is expended on the lighter miscellaneous Literature of ihe 
day, including the most popular Magazines and Reviews, a greater 
part is appropriated to the purchase of standard authors in every 
branch of knowledge. 

Near the library are Medical establishments for the relief of the 
poor, supported by voluntary subscriptions. 

Branches of the Royal Humane; the Naval and Military Bible; 
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge; Ladies* Benevolent 
Institution ; Missionary Societies of all denominations ; Infant 
Schools ; Seamen's Bethel ; Hampshire Benefit Society, and many 
other charitable institutions, exist in the town. 

There are several Breweries in Poctsea, the principal being Mr. 
Spicer's (formerly Temples) which covers a large space of ground 
near St. George's Square. 

There are eighty-six taverns and public houses within the walls, 
according to the licences granted in 1837, and about a like number 
of beer shops. 

Licensing System before 1836, from the Parliamentary inquiry. 

There was dissatsifaction under the close system of granting licenses for 
public-houses, in consequence of the Aldermen taking care of themselves and 
could influence the other Magistrates. The Carters are brewers, and nearly 
the whole of the Aldermen related to that family concerned in that brewery. 

No new licenses granted to the Carter family within the last 30 years : after 
the war, in order to decrease the number of public-houses, a rule was laid down 
that certificates should be refused to those houses which had not been licensed 
by the Excise for one year? That rule applied fairly ; it fell upon the firm of 
Carter. There were 12 licenses stopped, and seven belonged to that firm. 

Mr. E. Carter, — We had seven licenses out of 12 stopped; if you call that 
favour, I don't know what favour is- Mr. Atkins, — Will you state the num- 
ber of your houses ? Mr. Carter, — About 65 or 70. Mr, Atkins. — Taking the 
number at 63, he ought to have nine stopped instead of seven. He considered 
the rule laid down a fair rule, but his house from which a certificate had 
been witheld, did not fall within the spirit of that rule. If he had known of 
the rule he could have prevented the license being stopped. Mr. E Carter. 
" And so would I, you may depend upon it ; but I knew nothing of the rule till 
it was applied." 

Mr. Howard. " The rule was strictly carried into effect ; was not aware of 
any complaint at the time — We applied the rule without the least regard to per- 
sons, it applied most heavily on the Carters. The rule has not turnedout less 
injuriously to the Carter family than to others." 

Mr. Atkins.— They had 63 ; in the same proportion they ought to have 
lost nine. 



14 

Within the last 25 years there had been licenses transferred ; but no n«w 
licenses given, except in lieu of another. Application made, and refused. 

Mr. Lang agreed in the propriety of reducing the number of public-houses 
in Portsmouth : but in Southsea, an extension would be beneficial. Did not 
agree that the rule laid down by the Magistrates was good. 

Mr. Howard was not aware of any situation that demanded them for the 
public accommodation. 
1837. New licenses have been of late granted by the Magistrates. 

The principal Shops are in Queen-street, on the Hard, and in 

the neighbourhood of Butcher-street and the old Rope-walk. 

THE PORTSEA VOLUNTEERS. 

1797. On Monday April 18. The loyal independent Volunteers 
assembled in full regimentals at the Beneficial Society's hall, when 
the oaths were administered by Sir John Carter and J. Godwen, Esq. 
They then proceeded to St. John's Church, where the Rev. W. 
Howell preached, according to the account, the procession was very 
splendid, and as a matter of local curiosity, the dress is subjoined ; 
round black hat with a band of bear fur over it, white feather with 
red top, black cockade, black stock, scarlet coat with gold wings, 
and blue collar, and the button holes edged with gold, the skirts 
edged with white and finished with gold rosettes, white waistcoat, 
frilled shirt, blue pantaloons edged with scarlet cord, short black 
gaiters, and shoes ; the hair frizzled, hair powdered, and a tail be- 
hindtied with black ribbon. The officers wore helmets. Such were 
the Portsea national guards, but the Portsmouth costume was so su- 
perlatively magnificent, as to obtain for the wearers the title of " The 
Golden Goldfinches." There were in the towns several distinct com- 
panies of Volunteers during the war. 



THE 



HISTORY 



THE TOWNSHIP OF LANDPORT, 



THE MUNICIPAL WARDS OF ALL SAINTS AND SAINT 
MARY, PORTSMOUTH. 



HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ. 



PORTSMOUTH : 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



THE TOWN OF LANDPORT. 

(PORTSEA EXTRA MUROS, "HALFWAY HOUSES.") 



Beyond the Portsea Lines, is a very large suburb, through 
which passes the London road* It extends a long distance in every 
direction, is rapidly increasing, over the immense space of ground, 
formerly known as the Common-6eld,* containing some hundreds 
of acres, the closes anciently appertaining to the Priory of Domus 
Dei, many portions of collegiate lands, and the fields of the late T. 
Ridge, who left in his will that no portion was to be sold for less than 
one hundred pounds per acre, his descendants feared it would never 
Tealise that sum, but during the war, portions were sold at the rate 
of one thousand pounds per acre. 

The following document traces the change of property in this 
neighbourhood. 

The Warden and Scholars, of Saint Mary College, of Win- 
chester, CONVEY to John Burrill, — All those pieces of Arable 
Land, situate in Portsea common field, called Cherry Garden Field, 
in Amelia Row, and Unicorn-street : which pieces of Land, con- 
tain altogether 25a. Or. 14p, are Freehold of Inheritance, and are 
part of the Lands of the Wardens and Scholars, in the parish of 
Portsea, IN EXCHANGE for Buildings, Gardens, Orchards, and 
pieces of Land, Freehold of Inheritance, belonging to John Bur- 
rill, and containing 80a. Or. 15p. situate in the parishes of Wym- 
mering and Widley. — Dated this 16 day of May, 1836. 

* The common fields, according to the ancient customs of this borough, are 
to be driven by the chamberlain immediately after harvest is in. The owner 
of every horse, who has no right to the common fields, is to pay for each horse 
the sum of 6s. 8c?, for every cow 3s. Ad, and for every sheep or pig 4c?. And 
for every five acres of land any person has in the common fields, he is entitled 
to keep one horse, or two cows, or twenty sheep or pigs. Every burgess, be- 
longing to this corporation, has a right to feed one horse in the common fields 
during the time they remain open ; and the corporation were entitled formerly 
to have from the respective owners the sum of threepence an acre for every 
acre of land in the common fields, which has been many years since done away 
with. 



Between the town and the ihore of the harbour lay some very ex- 
tensive pasture lands ; These were purchased some years since by 
Government for the formation of Cavalry barracks and other works 
connected with the defences of the Country ; a roadway passes on 
the edge of the harbour round three sides of these enclosures, till 
it joins the turnpike road ; and a private way leads through the 
centre of them to the same : this district is commonly called the 
** pesthouse fields," and the small streets and houses on the edge of 
the harbour, " the flathouses." The following are the prices given in 
1814 by the Government for the lands, on awards of the grand jury. 
Sir J. Carter, for Pesthouse 13,000/. Mr. Hellyer 4000/. Mr. At- 
field 3353/. Mr. Brain 16,000/. Dock mill society 10,000/. Mr. 
Fitzherbert 6,000/. Mr. J. Lath 1,000/. Lord Powerscourt 3,224/. 
Mr. W. Pearce 6,000/. Mr. Tolfree 1,900/. Mr. Gravenor 2,100/. 

Immediately after the purchase, the General of the Ordnance 
commenced and carried to some extent a lofty wall enclosing all the 
houses and streets on that side Landport from the road round the for- 
tifications of Portsea, 

The streets however have of late years had access granted again, 
the inhabitants paying the expense of removing portions of the wall. 
That part of the town between Charlotte-street and Union-street is 
in the parish of Portsmouth. The cognomen, Landport, was given 
a few years since by William Cooper, Esq. alderman and several times 
mayor of Portsmouth, and a native of the place. 

ALL SAINTS' DISTRICT. 

For ecclesiastical purposes, by an order in Council dated March 
4th, 1835, this district is thus described. " The boundary to com- 
mence on the South side at William's bridge on the canal, extending 
to the London road, crossing which it is continued along the centre 
t)f Union-road, to the South of the Lion Havelin Gate ; to be bounded 
<on the South-west by the outer line of fortification of the town of 
Portsea, and on the West by Portsmouth-harbour, as far as Byerley's 
Mill ; on the North, to commence in the centre of Rodmore-lane, 
leading to the London-road and comprising the houses on the North 
side of Kingstone Crescent, extending as far as (where at that time) 
the second mile stone in the London-road ; the line from thence to 
continue on the West side of Buckland-road to Lake-lane down the 
centre of which to lead to the London-road, turning there to the 
South into the centre of Paradise-row and to terminate at William's 
Bridge, on the canal. 



THE MUNICIPAL WARD, 



Rate Arrtt. of 
Payees. Rating. 



All Saints' Ward, or Landport^-(nme Councillors) — The 
north, and west of a line passing from the Lion Gates to the 
Blacksmith's Arms, from thence to the bottom of Lake-lane, 
Tip the same to the top, turn to the right in a line as far as 
Deadman's-lane, up Deadmah°s-lane, to the top of same, 
then turning to the left through Copnor to Gatcombe-house, 
then passing from Gatcombe-house through the avenue of 
same, across the Turnpike Road, to the extremity of the 
Borough Boundaries, on the sea-shore near Tipner ; includ- 
ing also that part of the Parish of Portsmouth in this Dis- 
trict. 2,094 11,215 

NO POPERY ! NO SAINTS ! 

( Curious Letter.* J 

1 am astonished to find in the nineteenth century, and this reforming age 
the Popish superstition identified with the wards into which this Borough is di- 
vided, under the Municipal Bill. It is bad enough to dedicate to departed Saints 
our places of religious worship ; but more absurd, to mete out the sections of 
a town to various Saints now in Heaven. What has St„ Thomas, or St. John, or 
St. Mary to do with wards or Corporations ? And how preposterous to denominate 
one of these divisions " All Saints?' when the term will not fitly apply to one 
-half of its inhabitants. Instead of going to Heaven for names, let some other 
appropriate and distinctive appellation be adopted ; for All Saints, Landport 
Ward. Get rid of superstition, and preserve secular affairs from being asso- 
ciated with those which are religious. 
October 30tk: 1835. 

This ward may be hereafter altered by the Boundaries Bill. 

ALL SAINTS' CHURCH. 

The Vicar of Portsea, the Rev. C. B, Henville, supported by all 
bis Clerical Brethren, the Parish Officers, a number of Gentlemen, 
and the children of the Charity Schools, attended divine service, at 
Kingston Church, and afterwards proceeded in procession to the site 
of the new Church of All Saints, to lay the foundation stone. The 
reverend gentleman delivered a prayer on the occasion, and having 
laid the stone in the customary form, implored a blessing on the 
undertaking,and on those concerned in the rearing of it. In a 
cavity of the foundation, inclosed in a glass case, sealed with mastic 
were deposited a Bible, a Testament, a Common Prayer Book, and a 
Johnson's Dictionary, with a brass Plate, bearing the following in- 
scription . 

" Hoc Templum Parochiale, sacris dicatum construendum decrevit, privatis 
opibus adjuta Britanniarum Senatus Munificentia. Primum hunc operiis 
Lapidem Posuit Carolus Brune Henville, A. M. Vicarius de Portsea xxiv dia 
Junii, Anno Georgii Regis Quarti sexto, A. S. mdcccxxv. — Jacob Owen, Ar~ 
-chitecto," 



* Not by the Editor, 



SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CHURCH. 



£. s. d. 

Burgess, Mrs. Eliza 2 

Burges, Mrs. Elizabeth 2 

Cape, Rev. J 5 5 

Carter, J B. Esq M. P .... 10 

Carter, Mr. Edward 10 

Carter, Mrs. S 1 

Carter, Mrs. Sarah 1 

Cockburn, Sir G.K.G.C. ..10 

Compton, Mr. T 1 1 

Cooper, Mx. W 5 5 

Martin, Mr. P 5 

Mathews, Mr. Charles 5 

Morgan, Rev. Dr. 10 Q 

Nay lor, Mr. Edward 110 

Newton, Mr. W 5 

Owen, Mr. Jaeob 5 5 

Paffoot, Mr. Charles ...... 5 

Pearce, M r . William 5 

Poulden, Mr. A . 10 10 

Pratt & Son, Messrs 10 10 



£. s. *. 

Rennel, very Rev. Dean of 

Winchester 10 10 

Searle, Mr. A 5 

Seeds, Mr. Thomas 5 

Sheppard, Mrs 52 10 

Smith, Mr 1 1 

Smithers, Mr. John 2 2 

Soaper, Mr. G 10 

Spicer. Sir S 50 

Stigant, Mr, W 2 2 

Tate, Rev. William 10 

Mr. Temple, R. G 10 

Thomas, Mrs. Mary 1 a 

Toriano, Capt 2 

Turner, Mr. George 1 

Watson, Major R. M 5 5 

Winchester, Warden and 

Fellows of ...200 

Winchester, Dean & Chap- 
ter of 20 



At the Mile End, stands All Saints' Church, erected in 1826-7, by 
the Commisioners. The site was the property, severally, of Lord 
Viscount Powerscourt, the College of St. Mary, Herbert Allen, Esq. 
and Mr. T. Gloge, in common field — the two former proprietors pre- 
sented their shares to the church, and from the two latter the interest 
was purchased. The Rev. R. H. Cumyns, B. A. of All Souls' Col- 
lege, Oxon. was appointed by the Vicar the first minister. The 
church is in the florid style of Gothic architecture, having above the 
principal front a tower supported and adorned by flying buttressess. 

The contract price for this building was 12,164/. and the iron 
palisade 309/. ; and it was built by Messrs. Ellis and Absalom, of 
Portsea. In its internal arrangement it partakes of the same charac- 
ter as St. Paul's. The splendid east window above the altar, twenty- 
three feet in height and fifteen in breadth, executed by Mr. Edwards 
of Winchester, represents in six compartments, under rich canopies, 
and standing on Gothic pedestals, the four Evangelists, and the 
apostles St.. Peter and St. Paul, recognized by their symbolic em- 
blems. In the upper circular part are six angels, bearing alternately 
a celestial crown, a harp, and a trumpet. The tracery work is filled 
up by Gothic designs, and on each side are the heraldic bearings of 
the episcopal see of Winchester, the college of St. Mary (the arms of 
William of Wickham) and the vicar of Portsea, the ordinary, pat- 
ron, and incumbent. This brilliant window was erected at the ex- 
pense of theRe\. C. B. Henville. The Church is of the same dimen- 
sions as the church of St. Paul's Southsea, excepting an additional 
width of twenty inches; its exterior Purbeck Stone, the appearance 



of which is much handsomer, and is of greater solidity than the 
Bath Stone. 

There is a Chapel of the Baptists in Clarence-street, Charlotte's- 
row, and a second in Lake Lane built in 1824. 

" On Tuesday, May 8, the foundation-stone for the use of the Bap- 
tist Chapel, was laid. On Wednesday, August 10, the Chapel was 
opened for public worship, when sermons were preached in the 
morning by the Rev. D, Miall, and the Rev. Dr. Draper, and in the 
evening by the Rev. Mr, Bulgin, to large and attentive congrega- 
tions." 

There are other Chapels in this district belonging to the various 
sects into which the latitudinarianism of Protestantism allows 
her followers to diverge, under plea of right of private judgment. 

There is a Female Penitentiary at Landport. 

A Gis Company was incorporated by act of parliament in 1821, 
the first projectors being Messrs Barlow Brothers, of London. The 
works are near the sea at the Flathouses, and the to^ns are now 
generally lighted throughout. The works were originally in Portsea 
near the Unicorn Gate. 

The Barracks for the royal engineers were at Laudport, at a mile 
distant from Portsmouth, as are the residences of the principal 
officers, near the London road, where it bends towards the Lion 
gateway. In the same district, and contiguous to the Barracks was 
the Marine Infirmary, formerly a private house. 

The Sappers' Barracks, at the Half-way Houses, were sold by 
the Ordnance Board, for 1250/. in 1834. 

PORTSMOUTH AND LONDON CANAL. 

1817, February. Bill introduced into Parliament, received the 
Royal assent on July 10, for the Portsmouth canal, the expense 
being, for making the Canal from Eastney Lake to (the Halfway- 
houses) Landport, Cutting from Eastney Lake to the Basin at 
Portsea, two Locks, three Road Bridges, and six occupation ditto, 
the Towing Path, Steam Engine, including the building, Basin and 
Contingencies, £16,818. 

On August 25, 1819, a Jury, summoned by George Hollis, Esq. ' 
Under-sheriff of the County, met to award to several proprietors, 
compensation for land required for the Canal. The following were 
the awards:— Miss White 1110/. Messrs J. Goldsmith 1100/. S. 
Goldsmith 475/. Morey 500/. Temple 1450/. T. B. Higgins 315/. 



Midge 270/. Dunning 315/. Lipscomb 45/. Hancock 105/1 BscT- 
cock 135/. Blacker 300/. Feltham (exchanged) r The Corporation 
6/. 15*. 

OPENING OF THE CANAL. 

May3Qth, 1823, 

From Langstone Harbour, and the Sea-lock of the Portsea Island 
Canal. A Steam Vessel having passed the Locks, proceeded 
through this branch, of two miles in length, between bank s covered witfe 
spectators, to the amount of at least 20,000. On reaching the basin, 
they were greeted with a discharge of cannon, and the acclamations 
of the persons assembled, amongst which were at least 500 who 
covered the masts, rigging and deck of a large Collier brig that lay 
therein. 

On the site of the Canal Basin now stands Arundel-street. 

The principal streets for business are Union-street, Charlotte- 
street, and the line of the London Road. 

GENERAL CEMETERY. 

A site of land of four acres in extent situate near the Nelson's 
Arms on <rhe London road, and extending to the sea shore, was in 
November, 1830, purchased by a company, and at an expence of three 
thousand pounds, drained, planted and enclosed with walls fourteen 
feet high ; a handsome entrance and corridor fronts the road, having 
at one wing, a small edifice for the funeral service, and at the other 
a residence for the officiating registrar. 

The Poor-house for Portsea is situated, two miles on the London- 
load ; it is a very large brick building, having been several times 
enlarged. 

Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq. who resided at Stubbington Lodge, and 
leld the College leases, left by will,. June 8, 1821, 10,000/. four 
per cent. Cons ; the dividends to be paid in life annuities, " for the 
maintenance of five poor men, married or single, ten poor widows, 
and five poor single women, of the age of fifty years, or upwards, 
born within the guildable part of Portsea, and resident in the parish 
at the time of their election, and shall have resided at least ten 
years previous. The vicar, or his curate, the ministers of the esta- 
blished churches, and the churchwardens of the Guildable part of 
Portsea, appointed governors, and visitors of the charity, with pow- 
er to elect the persons, who shall partake of the benefit. 

Portsea. Parish.-- Answers of the Overseers to the series of 
ipestions, by the Government Agents: 



The average number of rates for the last three years have been 
seven and a half, or 75. 6d. in the £, in a proportion of two-thirds 
of the annual value upon houses, and only one-fifth of the rental 
upon land. The whole amount of rated property is valued (includ- 
ing the out district of Portsmouth Parish) at 51,500/. annual value. 
The Houses, &c. yield annually 11,053/. 7*. 0d.; and the Land, 
2,323/. 6s. Od. upon the average of the same period. The inhabit- 
ed and rated houses number, 7,770, viz. — under 5/. 5,350 ; be- 
tween 5/. and 10/. 1,368 ; 10/. and 20/. 735 ; 20/. and 30/. 199 ; 
30/. and 40/. 67 ; 40/. and 50/. 35 ; 50/. and upwards, 16. Unoc- 
cupied houses, 348. Rated, but excused payment on account of 
poverty, 4,275. Ratings otherwise than inhabited houses, 243. 
The number of persons occupying property who do pay rates 3,596. 

In the first year after the war (1816), the sum levied on the pa- 
rishioners of Portsea, for the maintenance of the poor, was 8592/. 
10*. 3d. including 1980/. 175. 6d. out-door relief. The yearly 
amounts levied since 1824 stand thus : 

1825 £10,384 4 6 .... Out-door, £3,740 1 9 

1826 12,023 10 3,879 9 6 

1827 12,581 7 9. 3,802 17 10 

1828...- 12,260 12 10 4,221 

1829 11,704 17 3 4,514 6 10 

1830 13,420 12 5,037 5 6 

1831 14,386 7 5,357 3 6 

1832 13,294 19 5,392 4 

1833 15,678 9 7 5,898 10 1 

1834 14,102 12 4 6,708 18 1 

With the above large expenditure, the greatest number of paupers 
in the House (1816) was 621. 

The Corporation lands in the Cherry Garden fields are in long 
narrow strips or rods. 

Was there not a field, opposite the Air Balloon, at Kingston, con- 
taining about two acres, sold to Sir S. Spicer ? Mr. Howard. — Yes, 
he gave the full value for it, 250/. 

Stamshaw Common belongs to the Corporation, as part of the 
waste lands of the borough. The rights were not formerly so well 
defined as of late years. There has been a cottage of late years 
built on the Common for a gate-keeper. The parish of Portsea 
rents part of it. Formerly it was laid waste, and was generally oc- 
cupied by gipsies, and there was no question of right of common. 
In the writings of Kingston there is a turn out of common mention- 
ed.* 

* Parliamentary Report. 



8 

At Tipner, three miles on the edge of the Harbour, in a very re- 
tired situation, is a small military post, for the safety of the maga- 
zines for gunpowder for the navy — an extensive range of buildings, 
erected in the present century, very strongly arched, bomb-proof, and 
nearly surrounded with water. 

June 1833. It was decided in the Court of King's Bench, that 
the appointment of Five Overseers, for the Parish of Portsea, was 
illegal, and that four only are to be annually chosen. Until 1797, 
it was always the custom for the County Magistrates to appoint one 
and the Borough Magistrates three Overseers; but in that year, and 
up to last year, four were appointed by each set of Magistrates, and 
from the growing population, eight Overseers were requisite duly to 
execute the office. 

In Landport, Southsea, and Kingston wards, there are fifty public 
houses, sixteen of which are in what was before the passing of the 
municipal act, called the guildable part of the borough. There are 
about as many beer shops, and several breweries. 

Portsea Isle, is in length 4 miles, and a 3 miles in brcdth. This 
Isle berith good corn and grasse. The ground is made an Isle by 
this meene : There brikith out an arme of the meyn Haven about a 
3 miles above Portesmuth, and goith up a 2 miles or more by ma- 
risch ground to a place caullid Porte bridge, 2 miles from Portes- 
muth. Then brikith there out another creke out of the mayn se or 
avant haven, and goith up also to Porte bridge, and there is the 
ground insulated. The ground within the Isle of Portesmuth is parte- 
ly inclosed, frutefull of corn, and hath sum wood. From Portes- 
muth Town to Porte bridge, of 2 arches of stone, ij miles. The 
bridge is the limes of the Isle. And heere I markid one arme of 
salte water ebbing and flowing that cummith out of Portesmuth 
Haven up by marsch ground into Porte bridge and an other creke 
from the mayn se to the same bridge. And these 2 crekes meeting 
at the bridge make the Isle of Portesmuth."* 

The Island of Portsea is about sixteen miles in circumference, and 
the ride round it affords a delightful excursion. During the Heptarchy 
it was a royal demesne, but alienated in the reign of Edgar; by 
Athelfleda, his Queen, bestowing it as an addition to the minster at 
Winchester, which still retains a large portion of it as collegiate 
land. It consists of two parishes, viz. that of Portsmouth and Port- 

* From John Leland's New Year's Gift to King Henry the Eighth. 



9 

sea, (he extra-parochial land of the Salterns and Hilsea ; but this 
latter, forming a part of the parish of Wymering, is not to be con- 
sidered farther than including it in the aggregate number of acres* 

ANCIENT TENURES, 

In 1215. This portion of the parish of Wymering was granted by King John, 
to the Earl of AlbeTmarle, by an order to the constable of Portchester on Sep- 
tember 23. 

On November 13, 1215. The sheriff is commanded to grant to William of 
Rochester ten acres of land, with appurtenances in Porteseye, [Portsea] which 
belonged to Hugo de Plaiz : a grant from the King. 

On December 29, 1215. The sheriff is commanded to "convey this same land 
from William Rochester, to William Brewer, in reward for military suit and 
service performed by him. 

In the third year of Edward the First, Richard de Portescy had free warren 
over Portesey, Froditon, Copenore, Stambrigg and|Houghton, as had also Ro- 
bert of Halsted over Porteseye, Froderington and Copnore in the fifteenth year 
of the same king. Henry the third granted to Envaloni de Montibus in free 
farm, twenty acres of land in Porteseye, which belonged to Henry Pensoner, an 
enemy to the king. Edward the first granted free warren to Robert de Har- 
wedon, master of the Hospital of Portsmouth, over lands in Portsmouth, Frod- 
erington and Feldershe, and in the fifteenth year of his reign, Robert de Halsted 
had granted him lands in Portescy, Frodinton and Copnore, and John in his 
sixteenth year had also granted to the Hospital of Portsmouth certain mes- 
suages and lands near Portsmouth. 

Stobington was formerly attached to the Hospital of GotTs House. — The 
Manors of Kingston, Buckland, and Applestead, having been escheated to the 
Crown in the reign of King John, were given to the Corporation. They were 
then inthe possession of the De Ports, a family of some distinction in our 
Hampshire Annals* 

Rate Amt. of 
Payers Rating 

St. Mary's Ward, or Kingston — (three Coun- 7 
cillors.)— AH the Parish of Portsea to the East > 367 6,007 
of Landport and Southsea Wards. 3 

The five Wards in the parish of Portsea contain seven times the 
number of Rate Payers, but only three times the amount of rated 
rental, and therefore the number of Councillors for that Parish is 
32, while Portsmouth is only represented by 9. The fact of the 
parish of Portsmouth having to pay one-third of the Borough Rate, 
a disproportionate sum, was wholly disregarded. This should, have 
been taken into account, and the number of Councillors raised to 
1*2, and the additional three should have been subtracted from the 
Landport Ward, which has 2094 Rate Payers, but only 11,215/. 
rateable rental. 

The hamlets of Buckland, Kingston, and Fratton, are now " the 
busy haunts of men." Within these ten years, ihese hamlets have 
become one ; and, for an extent of upwards of two miles on the 
London road, the increasing suburbs spread through Kiugstone 



10 

Cross and towards the sea at Stamshaw, formerly quite a retired 
spot. At a short distance is Northend, and Stubbington, with the 
villages of Hillsea, Copner, and Milton; all of which contain many 
elegant houses, the seats of the resident gentry. 

At Buckland, is the Parish Church dedicated to St. Mary, and 
commonly called Kingston Church, from the hamlet surrounding 
it— a venerable building, but nothing particular in its architecture. 
It is said to have been built in the reign of the third Edward. 
There is a square tower of modern date, containing a ring of bells. 
It is surrounded by the largest cemetery in the kingdom, containing 
eight acres, in the south-east part of which a great number of the 
sufferers in the wreck of the Royal George are interred in one grave, 
above which is a handsome monument with an appropriate inscrip- 
tion. Opposite the gateway is the new vicarage-house. The church 
which was ancientlyc ailed " Portissaye" was painted for the first time 
in 1824. The whole of the chancel belongs to St. Mary's College, and 
on the pew allotted to Stubbington parsonage appear the armorial 
bearings of William of Wykeham. The clock in the tower was 
given by Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq. and part of the communion-plate 
by the Rev. Dr. Backshell. The cemetery has been thrice enlarg- 
ed ; in 1782 by the addition of two acres on the south-east, and in 
1812 two acres on the north side. 

To enlarge the vicarial precincts at Kingston, the late vicar, the 
Rev. Dr. Gauntlett, purchased certain lands and tenements, and by 
his will, in 1825, secured them to his successors for ever. This 
benefaction is alluded to in the inscription on his monument. The 
church affords accommodation for eight hundred persons. 

In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of Pope Nicholas the fourth, 1291, 
the Vicarage of Porteseye is thus rated. 

£. s. d. 

Eclia de Porteseye cum Cappella 30 

Vicaria ejusdem 10 

Et est pensionar in » 110 

4 3 

VICARIA PORTESSAY. 

THOMAS ADAMS MODO VICAR. 

Rectoria approp ad prioratu de Soutliwick in com South, valet in firraa terrae 
vocat glebe lande decimis, oblationibus et aliis casualibus ut p. perdictam 
quater repris. £9 13 9 

In procurationibus et quo da : dditut p. p. dictam 

quater * 9 7 

et valet altra £9 4 2ob 

et inde decimis •...-..,. 18 bob 



11 

In the Liber Ecclesiasticus of June 22nd. 1835, the valise is 
staled as follows, 

£. s. d. 

Portsea Vicarage — Net annual value (Patrons the > q~q q a 

Fellows of Winchester College.) > 

St. George's Church 45 

St John's ,. 141 

St. Paul's 310 

All Saints '. ..160 

April 17. On Tuesday, a new Independent Chapel was opened 
for Divine worship, at Buckland ; three-fourths of the expense of 
the building contributed by the congregation of King-street Portsea. 

The highway rate in Portsea, annually collected does not exceed 
400/. as it is collected only on property outside the Portsea Walls ; 
many streets and lanes formed within the last twenty years are not 
parish but private roads, and are not therefore repairable by the Way 
Wardens, without a special order at a Vestry Meeting. The ac- 
counts are exhibited every September, on the annual nomination of 
Way Wardens, and axe subsequently explained to, and passed by, 
the Magistrates. 

The Barracks at Hillsea ivere first planned in 1780-1, enlarg- 
ed on February 14, 1794, and a camp was formed for several thou- 
sand men, During the Napoleon Way, they received in detach- 
ments Twenty-eight thousand men ; the buildings have been gradu- 
ally removed, excepting the Hospital and a small brick building, 
It now appears as an extensive airing-ground round which has been 
.planted a belt of trees with fences. 

Four miles on the London road, is a military post, guard-houses, 
and a double drawbridge with extensive outworks, a deep canal, and 
a second stone bridge. The canal has been of late years deepened 
by the canal company. 

1834. The Barrack Board gave directions for the sale of the 
Battle of Minden, public-house, long untenanted, unprofitable, and 
■permitted to go into decay. The land has since been cleared. 

In 1759, Government bought ninety-fi*e acres, one rood and eight 
Tods, part of a marsh called Hilsea Green, in the Parish of Wymer- 
ing. 

Gat combe -House, the seat of the late Admiral Sir Hoger Curtis, 
Bart, than whom no one ever filled a more useful and honorable 
station in the service of his country. Zeal, intelligence, intrepidity, 
perseverance, and urbanity, distinguished his public career ; in 
private life he was an example of the English Gentleman, — Sir 
Lucius Curtis, Bart, a Post-Captain in the Navy, and an active 

R 



12 

Magistrate for the County, has succeeded to the estate and honours 
of his lamented father. 

June, 1813. In a committee of supply, Parliament voted 90,000/. 
for fortifications at Hilsea and Portsmouth. 

1814, Oct. 24. The commission for purchasing premises and land 
at Hilsea for extending the works and lines, was opened, attended 
by the lieutenant-general of the ordnance, surveyor-general, secre- 
taries, clerks, and surveyors, the admiral, the commandant of artil- 
lery, the principal officers of the Gun-wharf, and the attorney-gene- 
ral ; after viewing the lands, the commissioners sat, and the grand 
jury of Hampshire being in attendence, the causes were commenced. 
The following were the awards made by the jury. 

Mr. Padmck,jun., 10,025/. ; Mr. Padwick, sen., 4500/. ; Mr. and 
Mrs. Burrell, 20,537/.; Mr. Rood, 3000/.; devisee of Sir John 
Carter, 20,000/. ; Mr. Hellyer for Hilsea, 500/. ; Trustee for Antrim 
and Craswell, 6500/. ; Mr. Chase for the King's Head, 3800/. ; Mr. 
Friend, 1700/. ; Messrs Garratt for two public houses, 3700/. ; Mr. 
Goldfinch, 2100/. ; Mr. W. Hopkins, 4250/. ; Mr. S. Hopkins, 1200/. 
Mr. Hebbard, 1800/. ; Sir R. Curtis, for mansion and land, 24,000/. ; 
Mr. J. Morey, 1200/. ; Mr. Pittis, 4263/. ; Mr. Smith, 1500/. ; S. 
Spicer, Esq. for the " Battle of Minden," 20001. ; T. Thistlewhayte, 
Esq. 5000/.; devisees of Walker, 1250/.; Mr. J. Knight, 2400/. 
Mr. J. Green, 3000/. The court sat four days. 

The lands purchased under the act above recited, extend across 
the island from sea to sea on either side of the canal at Portsbridge. 
The boundaries are marked by small square stones, bearing the initials 
M G. R." many of which are seen in passing round the island. The 
boundary pillar of the borough is near the fourth mile-stone on the 
London road, and on one side of these lands. It was formerly " a 
Green Post," from which the neighbouring tavern takes its name, 
but is at present a handsome stone pedestal, enclosed by^ iron rails ; 
on one side appears the Corporation crest, and below, " Burgi, de 
Portesmouth Limitatum Limes : Anno 1799. Rev. G. Cuthbert, 
Prsetore.' r 

The village of Milton is pleasant and retired. Milton, or Middle- 
ton,. Pound, and Welder Heaths, have been enclosed, by acts of 
parliament. At Tangier, on the eastern side of the island, are 
the ancient Salt-works, mentioned as existing in the time of Edward 
the Confessor, and rated in Doomsday Book ; beyond this is the 
hamlet of Copnor, with the manorial Farm, and house. 

CROWN ESTATE, THE GREAT SALTERNS. 

This was sold by auction, at the Auction-mart, on Friday the 8th. 



13 

of January, 1830, in one lot (by order of the Commissioners of his 
Majesty's woods and land revenues,) under the authority of the 
Lord Commissioners of the Treasury. It comprises a Freehold 
Estate, extra-parochial and tithe-free, comprising 351 acres, situate 
next Wimmering, in Portsea, three miles from Portsmouth, and one 
mile and a half from Cosham, a large Mansion-house, with extensive 
storehouses, cisterns, and buildings for salt-works, which until within 
a few years, were carried on upon an extensive scale, the brine- 
grounds comprising together 70 acres, very advantageously arranged, 
with spacious Quay-room, next Langstone Harbour; a compact Farm 
adjoining with a Villa Farm Residence, and agricultural buildings, 
containing exclusive of the above, about 200 acres of productive arable 
with a suitable portion of meadow land. It was in the occupation of 
Mr. Stewart, but at the sale in the hands of the Crown, the purchaser 
was Mr. F. Sharpe. Not far from this is Baffin's Farm, remarkable 
for a Fish Pond of great extent and depth. Beyond Milton is 
the Canal formed across the Island, commencing from a lock in 
Langstone haven (where was a large steam-engine for filling it with 
salt water), and terminating in the basin at Landport. It was opened 
with much formality a few years ago; a collier, several barges, and 
a steam-vessel,- passing along it ; but the salt water percolating 
through the loose texture of the island, spoilt all the wells and springs, 
and it was of necessity abandoned. 

A prospectus was issued in 1837 for the formation of docks, 
wharves, and warehouses, on the north point of Velder Lake, imme- 
diately behind Baffin's F^rm to the south of the Salterns; the esta- 
blishment to abut into Langstone Harbour, the entrance by a canal to 
be dug between Southsea Castle and the Fire Barn, to pass in the 
rear of Lump's and Eastney Forts, and thence into Eastney Lake, 
close to Fort Cumberland. This canal to be 18 feet deep, and its en- 
trance facing Spithead, projected to the edge of the deep water har- 
bour channel. 

CUMBERLAND FORT. 

When exiled Stuart sought our isle 
And Waverly was gained by guile ; 
When Scotland's hardy mountain clans 
Won the bright day at Preston Pans, 
While claymore bright and English steel, 
For George — for Stuart — ring and reel ; 
When on Culloden's dreadful plain 
High rose the heaps of mangled slain, 
When, Cumberland ! thy giant might 
Maintained thy Royal Father's right, 
Drove from the land each bigot slave 
In terror o'er the foaming wave, 



And taught, that England's people free" 
Will ne'er submit to slavery — • 
*Twas gratitude to thee would found 
The Fort, our isle to guard and bound — 
Though poor the tribute it can give 
To one, whose name shall ever live, 
While valour is to England dear, 
And Liberty her sons shall cheer. 

Bulwarks erected at enormous price, 
By heads of folly and by hands of vice. 

GIBBON. 

Cumberland Fort, situate at the mouth of Langstone Harbour.. 
This fortification which cost many hundred thousand pounds, was- 
erected by convicts, from bricks manufactured on the spot, and faced 
with Portland stone. It covers a great extent of ground, has secret 
communications, mounts some hundred pieces of cannon, is capable of 
containing four thousand troops, and is yet perfectly useless from its 
situation. It was commenced in 1796, Lord Tyrawly being the pro- 
jector, but was very small. The principal part was formed under 
the direction of the Duke of Richmond: and from 1794 till 1820 
it was much improved and enlarged. It is named in honour of Wil- 
liam Duke of Cumberland* On the beach are two small forts for six 
cannon, called Eastney and Lump Forts,, they are however, in a 
dilapidated state from the violence of the sea ; at the latter more 
than three acres of land have been lost since its first erection in 1734 r 
this is now a station for the Coast Guard, and a second is on the 
beach near Cumberland Fort* 

THE INVASION. 

A Scene on the beach in 1801. 
Portsmouth never witnessed a prouder day than the Sunday, on 
which the Beacons were fired announcing that the French invading 
Flotilla was at Sea : thousands of the inhabitants, in plain clothes,, 
pressed forward as Volunteers, eager for arms, and were sworn ta 
their allegiance, at the moment when the distant beacons announced 
that the enemy was at hand, and the Ships atSpithead were slipping 
their Cables to put to Sea y even men, too old for the field, entreated 
to be allowed to assist at the great Guns, determined to apply a 
Match to the touch-hole, when they were too feeble to handle a Mus- 
ket. Among the Privates, enrolled on that day were Sir John 
Carter, and the leading men of all parties;- The Portsdown troop 
©f Cavalry marched with cheerfulness at ten o r Clock at night ; and 
the Volunteers, and the general mass of people waited with ardour 
to hear the firing of three of the largest pieces of Ordnance in the 
Garrison, during the night, as a Signal, that the enemy was off the 
Pari, 



THE 



HISTORY 



TOWNSHIP OF SOUTHSEA, 



THE MUNICIPAL WARD OF SAINT PAUL, PORTSMOUTH. 



HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ. 



PORTSMOUTH : 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



THE TOWN OF SOUTHSEA. 



Fifty years since the whole site of Southsea was occupied by fields 
and gardens : there was but one house (the late Mr. Willson's) and 
a cottage called the Wheelbarrow Castle tavern. In the situation of 
King's and Jubilee terraces, pasture lands; where now stand Hamp- 
shire and Laudport terraces, a long rope-walk with a very high bank 
on each side ; and a large pond in the angle, where is now Land- 
port-street. The first houses built were on the left-hand side of 
Hambrook-row, then followed Southsea-place and Bath buildings; 
and Thomas Croxton, Esq. having purchased some fields, from Sir 
John Carter, sold them off, and King's-terrace was commenced by 
John Williams, Esq. Comptroller of Customs. This was followed by 
the Bush hotel, erected in a market-garden ; and the different streets 
and terraces rose in succession : King's-terrace was not finished for 
many years, and Jubilee-terrace in 1827. Southsea now assumes the 
appearance of a large town. King's-terrace is an uniform range 
of buildings ; in a niche over the centre is a statue of George III, 
in his coronation robes, executed by Mr. Hellyer, of H. M. Dock- 
yard, erected in commemoration of the Jubilee. 

The Inscription. 

"GEORGIO III. ANNOS QUINQUAGINTA REGNANTI 

HARUM MEDIUM CONDITORES 

HANC STATUAM POSSUERE 1809." 

Thomas Croxton declared that he had netted 17,000/. for the site 
of Croxton town, which in 1711 sold for one hundred pounds. 

Extending to the right, are the terraces of Landport and Hamp- 
shire ; the former having a highly picturesque appearance, from the 
lofty trees and handsome shrubberies before many of the buildings, 
whilst on the left are the ranges called Bellevue and Jubilee terra- 
ces, which the draining of the morass has much improved, the pro- 
perty, now presenting a fine piece of meadow- land. The principal 
streets are Wish-street (formerly Wish-lane), Great Southsea-streef, 
Park-lane, and Elrn-grove, in which latter are many fine suburban 
residences and villas erected, and erecting on the site of some very 



extensive market-gardens, and gradually spreading to Southsea-com- 
mon. Opposite the Bush hotel, another road leads to a populous 
part of the suburbs, named Summer's-town, Allen's-field, the Cre- 
scent, &c. all in a state of advancement to form a large town. So- 
merset-place exhibits some noble houses ; while the fields behind 
St. Paul's Church are laid out for building, and new streets connect 
this part with the district of Marylebone ; the Brunswick Gardens 
were sold by Government in 1833, and now begin to be covered with 
streets. Victoria and Kent terraces were begun in 1837. 

SAINT PAUL'S DISTRICT. 

By an order of the Privy Council, dated March the fourth, 1835. 
The boundary to commence at South Sea Castle, on the south east, 
following a strait line to Marmion-place, and thence continuing in 
the centre of the road to the canal at Keith-bridge, on the north side 
the boundary extends westward down the centre of the canal (now 
Arundel-street) the London road, thence crosses the centre of Union 
road, terminating at the Lion Ravelin gate; the outer line of the for- 
tifications of the towns of Portsea and Portsmouth forms the west- 
ern boundary, on the south it is bounded by the sea. 

THE MUNICIPAL WARD. 

Rate Amt. of 
Payers Rating 
St. Pauls, or Southsea — (nine Councillors.) — The south 
and east of a line passing from the Lion Gates to the Black- 
smith's Arms, from thence to Lake-lane, up the same to 
top, then turning to the right through Fratton to the top of 
Green-lane, down Green-lane, through Green-row, Somers- 
town, Park -lane, to the Wheelbarrow Castle, thence to the 
extremity of old Borough Boundaries at Southsea 2,452 11,778 

Southsea Common was manorial land. It was purchased by 
Government about forty years ago, and enclosed portions of it were 
retained by the occupants of the surrounding lands, 31 acres given to 
the late Mr. Temple. It is now used as a parade ground. It was 
within these few years, covered with furze. It has for ages been a 
place for the encampment of troops. In 1220, the finest army Eng- 
land ever saw lay encamped here, under Hubert de Burgh. 1386, 
twenty-eight thousand men lay here for some months, under the 
command of the Duke of Lancaster. 1475, May 26, the whole 
army of England reviewed on Southsea Common, by King Ed- 
ward the Fourth. Henry the Eighth encamped his forces beyond 
Southsea Castle in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, and command- 
ed them in person. 1628, the armament against Rochelle being ap- 
pointed to rendezvous at Portsmouth, the troops lay in camps on the 
Common south of the town. During the last century, the Duke of 



Richmond formed a large camp beyond the Castle ; and another 
of immense bodies of troops, in 1801. Traces of these are still 
discernible, in the circular rings and partial pavements in various 
parts. During the last war, Government erected four large earthen 
batteries, at regular distances, along the shore ; the brick building 
near the Castle is the Fire-barn, for the manufacture of combustible 
articles used by the Ordnance ; and in the small battery, built to 
represent part of a ship, the sailors practise the use of cannon. 
The marsh land was drained by the late Mr. Webb ; it had been, 
from lime immemorial, a sheet of water, abounding in the winter 
with wild fowl. In a field near the windmill is a large stone, mark- 
ing the situation of the ancient landmark ; on it is inscribed, G. R. 
1774. The lofty masts on the Beach* and Common are for the guid- 
ance of Shipping. From the Clarence rooms to the houses at 
Southsea extended a morass, cut into trenches ; in some places very 
deep, and covered with stagnant water ; it has lately beeu drained, 
in a degree levelled, and added to the common. 

ORIGINAL TELEGRAPH, 

August 8, 1795. A telegraph erected on Post-down hill, within 
five miles of Portsmouth, under the direction of the Reverend ■ 

Campbell, Chaplain to his Royal Highness the Duke of York ; the 
experiment was tried, and intelligence conveyed from Portsmouth 
to London in twenty minutes, the first station being on the common, 

The common was the scene of the great rejoicings on account of 
the passing of the Parliamentary Reform Bill. 

THE ROYAL CLARENCE PROMENADE-ROOMS 
AND BATHS 

Are situated on the Beach. The original establishment was ih& 
erection of long rooms, on Southsea Common, by Mr. Cross, of the 
Crown hotel, by whom the bathing-machines were also introduced. 
These rooms were on the Common, near a small bridge thrown over 
a part of the morass, which formed part of the fortifications ; being 
of wood, they did not long withstand the ** wind and surf," and for 
years afterwards the only accommodation consisted in some hovels 

* " David Tyev was executed on Southsea beach for high-treason ; beheaded, 
drawn, and quartered, with the most inhuman and disgusting cruelty ; his heart 
being torn from his body ; the blood spouting over the spectators; the mis- 
creants cutting of his fingers for tobacco-stoppers, and leaving the unburied re- 
mains exposed to the sea-fowl on the beach. His head was kept as a show 
for many years, by ' Buck Adams,' the gaoler of Gosport Bridewell, who pub- 
licly claimed it, placed it in a bag, and carried it home under his arm.'" Satur- 
day, Aug. 14, 1782. 



bailed " M'Donald's Bathing-establishment." At length a party 
of gentlemen, purchased a canteen-house at Portchester, and re- 
built it on" the Beach. This, however, was neither wind nor water 
light ; but by great exertion it was maintained for a few years, and 
some baths were added ; but the proprietors, having made arrange- 
ments with the Board of Ordnance, the rooms were taken down 
together with the cottages which surrounded them, and the present 
erection was completed. The rooms, present an arcade towards the 
sea, supported by columns connected by arches. The principal 
apartment is forty-five feet long, thirty-five broad, and seventeen 
feet high ; papers, monthly publications, and a library afford amuse- 
ment to visitors, and in the evenings music, singing, balls, &c. 

The machines for cold bathing are ranged along the shore, and 
are more convenient than at any other place on the coast. 

FELTON THE POLITICAL ASSASSIN. 

" On Wednesday last week, whe«i no man expected any such 
thing, was Felton, before break of day, conveyed from the Tower 
to the Gatehouse, and between six and seven o'clock that morning, 
-attended by the sheriff and many armed men, brought to the King's 
Bench bar. His indictment being read, he confessed the fact; 
but added, that he did it not maliciously, but out of an intent far the 
good of his Country. Then Mr. Attorney made a speech in ag- 
gravation of the murder; ..he produced the knife in open court, 
comparing him to Ravilliak, &c. Then Justice Jones, being the 
ancient on the bench, gave sentence that he should be hanged un- 
till he was dead, but mentioned neither time nor place. At Ty- 
burn, where he was hanged, he testified much repentance, and sa 
took his death very stoutly and patiently. He was very long a dying. 
^Saturday.) His body is gone to Portsmouth, there to be hanged 
in chains."* 

This assassin was gibbetted on the beach ; an obelisk close to 
the Bathing rooms, contains an oak post full of nails being part of 
the gibbett, ihis is a boundary mark of the ancient limits of the 
borough by land. It still serves to mark the water boundaries. 

FELTON'S EPITAPH.t 

Here uninterred suspends, but not to save 
Surviving friends the expenses of a grave 

* Extracts of original letters from Mr. Mead to Sir Martin Stutville, 
December 13, 1628. 

t From an original Manuscript 1686. 



Helton's dead earth' — who to himself must "be 
His own sad monument, and elegy. 
Sut whether bad or good 
1 say not, by himself 'twas wrote in blood. 
Lo ! the pale corse and see that daring hand, 
Arched o'er with heaven — and ten thousand 
-Diamond stars — for him a sepulchre 
Which time shall never ruinate — and where 
The impartial worms— (not bribed to spare 
Princes wrapt up in marble*) — do not share 
His dust ; which oft the charitable skies 
Embalm with tears ; doing these obsequies 
Belonging unto men, while pitying fowl 
Contend to reach his body to his soul. 

PURITANICAL EXCUSE FOR MURDER. 

Some say the Duke was gracious, virtuous, good, 

And basely Felton did net spill his blood; 

If that be true, what did he then amiss 

In sending him the sooner to his bliss ? 

Pale death is pleasing to a good man's eye, 

And none but bad men are afraid to die : 

Left he this kingdom to a passage better ? 

Why Felton then hath made the Duke his debtor. 

L^nsdowne M.SS. 108. 

SOUTHSEA CASTLE, 

Situate three quarters of a mile south of Portsmouth, on the 
<l>each of the Common close to the water's edge, was built by Henry 
the Eighth in 1539, "a ryghte goodlie and warlyke castill." A 
■good view of it is found in the engraving from Holbein's picture, in 
which the entrance of the town of Portsmouth, on the land side, is 
placed so as to face the spectator, and the wall, is fortified at the an- 
gles by circular forts or bastions. At a small distance, and near to the 
point, who the English camp, defended on that part of its front which 
faces towards St Helen's, by a circular fort, mounted with four guns. 
The King mounted on a stately charger, whose bead-stall, rein, 
and stirrups, are studded and embossed with gold, is riding from tho 
town of Portsmouth, and just entering Southsea Castle, in Ms way 
to the camp. On his head a black bonnet with a white feather, a 
jacket of cloth of gold, and a surcoat or gown of brown velvet, with 
breeches and hose of white silk : his countenance serene and se- 
date, all the features of his face highly finished, and the portrait 
<the greatest likeness. On his right hand three henchmen, dressed 
in the royal uniform, and bearing their bonnets in their hands.; and 



* In satirical allusion to the Duke of Buckingham's splendid Momwneiitam 
Si. Thomas's Church. 



6 

on his left two lacqueys, dressed in different liveries. Behind the 
King the Duke of Suffolk, on a black charger, and also Sir Antony 
Brown, the King's Master of the Horse, on a white charger. These 
followed by two demi-lancemen, horsed and completely harnessed* 
Between the camp and the fort on the point* a band of pikemen 
in armour ; and close to their left, a band of gunners. 

Southsea Castle might well be called the Key of Portsmouth 
Harbour ; every ship of war coming into it being necessitated 
(owing to the flats) to keep close to the sbore upon which it is erected. 
It is observable, that Dumourier, when brought to Portsmouth as a 
captive, and another General of equal celebrity (I believe Hoche) y 
were struck with the omission of a strongly-constructed fortress 
upon this spot, during the War : it being then in ruin. 

The original castle consisted of a block-house with a domelike 
top. In the reign of Charles the Second it was surrounded with a 
star fort, as appeared from a small square tablet on the south side of 
the block-house near a flight of steps and an internal archway. On 
the accession of the House of Hanover, it was enlarged. 

In 1552 King Edward VI. passed a night in the castle during a 
tour for his health. In the reign of Elizabeth the following was 
the state of the garrison : captaine, fee per diem 2s. ; under cap- 
taine, 1*. \d. ; porters 2, one per diem Sd. the other 6d. ; master 
gunner, 8rf. ; gunners 14, soldiers 11, fee apiece per diem, 6d. 

" 1642, on Saturday, September 3d, in the night, the Parliament 
forces took Sousey Castle, w'ch lyes a mile from the toun upon the 
sea, and the way thither is on the sea sands. The captaine of the 
castel, his name was Challiner, who on Saturday had been at Ports- 
mouth, and in the evening went home tothecastell,and hissouldiers 
took horseloads of provisions, biscuit, meal and other necessaries wy 
them. They reported he had more drinke in his head than was be- 
fitting such a tyme and service, and the tounsmen gave out, that he 
had been bribed wy money to yield the castel up, but 'twas false, 
tho the first may be true, yet was not that neither any furtherence 
to the taking of it, for thus it was. Here were eighty musqueteers 
and others that came that night to the walle of the castel and under 
their ordnance, and had wy them a very good engineer and thirty- 
five scaling-ladders, and the whole company in the castel were but 
twelve commanders or officers, who all were not able to deal wy ours 

Note. — 1648, September 21st. Goring keeps Portsmouth for the King ; but 
it was invested by the Forces of the Parliament and taken. 



in such a disadvantage ; wherefore ours having suddenly and silently 
scaled the walls, called unto them, advised them what to do, shewing 
the advantage we had over them, and therefore their danger if they 
resisted ; who seeing the same immediately yielded the castel to us, 
whereupon our triumph at our taking it was plainly heard about two 
of the clock in the morning into the towne ; and as soon as they were 
masters of the castel they discharged two pieces of the castel ord- 
nance against the towne, which capitulated the next day." 

A SONG OF THE COMMONWEALTH ! ! ! 



A Captain bold, named Chaloner 
Here held his streightened quarters : 

Right fond was he of home-brewed beer 
And comfortable waters. 

From Portsmouth journeying one night 

By deep potations shaken, 
By fiend, with golden tokens bright, 

The Captain was o'ertaken. 

'Twas on September midnight drear, 
And far around were beaming 

The bivouac fires, and many a spear 
In the red light was gleaming. 

Before them lay the common wild, 
The moon was slowly sinking ; 

No genial star in heaven smiled — 
The Captain's thoughts were— drinking. 



Before his dim and wandering eye 
Such flitting forms were dancing 

Unable made him to descry 
He was with foe advancing. 

In silence dread long time they went— 

And gloomy hesitation ; 
Till, with the Captain's free consent, 

They joined in conversation . 

By slow degrees and artful round 
Sir Fiend changed relation, 

'Till unsuspected moment found — 
The Siege their joint narration. 

By eloquence and bribery 
The Captain's honor shaken, 

In dead of night by enemy, 
The fortress strong was taken. 



" Two Declarations from the Town and Garrison of Portsmouth : 
the one from Colonel Morley, and divers Members of the late Par- 
liament : published at (he Market-place. The other by many hun- 
dreds of the inhabitants : with their Protestation and Resolution, 
and a Letter sent to the Gentry in the western parts. Also, the seiz- 
ing of the Ruby frigate and divers other ships in the harbour : the 
coming in of the seamen, and the number engaging. With a Decla- 
ration of Major-General Brown. (1659.) 

" Having so seasonable an opportunity to expedite unto you the 
great transactions in these parts, I could not omit the communicat- 
ing thereof, it being of so general and publike concernment : espe- 
cially, seeing that the scene is again changed in these parts, and 
Portsmouth made the aspect of our western climate. For it is very 
certain that many of the late Members of Parliament have had fre- 
quent meetings in many places up and down the Countreyes, both 
with the Gentry and others ; and have presented several Garrisons 
with the translate of letters ; amongst whom Col. Whetham (Gover- 
nor of Portsmouth) seems to center in the same current, and hath 
granted free access into the town, treating the members with great 
prudency and friendship; and hath had several conferences with 



g 

fnem, about the securing of the town, and declaring for the Parlia- 
ment : their consultations tending to an interruption of the armies^ 
proceedings, as manifestly appears by a Remonstrance or Declara- 
ion published at Portsmouth : wherein they desire a mutual concur- 
rence, for settling the peace of these distracted nations ; for restoring 
the Parliament to their former freedom, being the people's indubit- 
able and undoubted birth-right ; and for the asserting the people's 
privileges, and maintaining of Magistracy and Ministers. 

" This being published at the Market-place, many there were that 
protested against it, and declared their Resolutions to adhere to the 
General Council of Officers, and to stand by the Army in their pre- 
sent proceedings, accounting their undertakings equally dear with 
their lives and fortunes. But these Resolutions soon introduced a 
confinement to many persons ; amongst whom, Captain Smith, Cap- 
tain Peacock, Captain Brown, and about six of the townsmen were 
secured, which hath caused great distractions in the town, the inha- 
bitants being very much divided. 

" But Colonel Whetham the Governor is very active, and useth all 
possible means for the satisfying and making up of all interests to 
the discontented parties ; and hath also secured the ships in the har- 
bour, which are said to be fifteen, the Ruby, the Diamond, the 
Saphire, Ihe Pellican, the Dragon, and ten other vessels. 

" If we may credit the general report, that descends from the high- 
flown notions of ihe wings of tame, they are said to be seven hun- 
dred landmen, and seven score horse, who are sufficient to guard the 
town at present. It is rumoured that many of the gentry have been 
assisting in sending in provisions, and that some are gone in with 
horse and arms. But Major Cadwell having notice thereof, imme- 
diately advanced with his own troop, and two others, towards Pe- 
tersfield ; to whose assistance, some few withdrew from Farnham, 
and those parts, with a resolution to block up the Garrison, if they 
can : and to obviate the design of others, who shall endeavour an 
assistance, or concurrence. 

" Col. Morley, and the rest of the members of the Old Parliament 
having consulted the publick affairs in general, and settled that Gar- 
rison, dispatched (as we hear) sundry letters to the Governours of 
several Castles and Garrisons, inciting them to a return of their for- 
mer duty, and to alienate their affections from the army. But how 
it is resented, the relations are various, and the several reports as 
dubious : for some report the Isle and Castle of Portland to be in 
safe hands, and that Cowes and Hurst Castle in the Isle of Wight 
liave undergone some tamperings ': as also Carisbrook Castle. 



THE SEIGE OF PORTSMOUTH. 

" Chichester, Decetnb. 9, 1659. 

" Upon the arrive of this sudden change and alteration, in so con- 
siderable a garrison as Portsmouth, it was ordered, that a consider- 
able body of horse and foot should be forthwith sent down into the 
western parts, to reduce that garrison, or block it up ; and accord- 
ingly the Lord Disbrow was made choice of, as Commander-in-Chief 
for that Expedition, who advanced with several troops of Horse from 
Westminster, and on Tuesday night last Colonel Hewson's Regiment 
of Foot began their march from the city of London, and five com- 
panies of Colonel Gibbon's Regiment from the borough of South- 
wark. * * * Also, all possible care is taken for the 
way-laying, stopping, and guarding the several avenues and passes, 
porting and leading to the town, that so the reducing of it may prove 
the more facile, and the work expedited, which otherwise may intro- 
duce various contingencies and mutations, the spirits of the people 
being exceeding inclinable thereunto ; occasioned by the deplorable 
Revolutions, and a general decay of trade, as doth exceed the great- 
est of precedents in former times. 

" By these sudden and unexpected commotions, a translate of 
some forces are expected from the northern parts ; and 'tis said, that 
three regiments of horse and dragoons are already upon their march. 
From whence it is affirmed, that the Lord Lambert's Infantry con- 
sists of above seven thousand foot, and that he hath a very consider- 
able body of horse. 

" General Monck hath sent two Officers to Newcastle, to add to 
his other three Commissioners, for re-entering upon some further 
proposals as yet untreated of. Colonel Zankey had a friendly re- 
ception from General Monck, upon his presenting of the letter from 
the Council of Officers of the Northern Army, in this present expe- 
dition. And it is the expectations of many, that there will be a 
mutual concurrence, and happy accommodation. * * 

"By the last express from Portsmouth, on Saturday last it is cer- 
tified, that a party of horse came as far as Gosport, and faced the 
town, but afterwards wheeled off at a further distance. Seven troops 
are also marched from Petersfield towards Chichester, and some 
commotions are feared about Exeter. The Foot that marched from 
London was met on Saturday last between Lockhup and Petersfield 
and intend to arrive before Portsmouth the 12th instant. Which 
place is said to be supplyed with great store of provision and ammu- 
nition, having above threescore pieces of ordnance." 



10 

1759, Aug. 23rd, at eight in the morning, part of this castle was 
blown up by some sparks falling through the flooring into a room 
below, where some soldiers had been the day before filling ball-car- 
tridges, and where a quantity of powder had been carelessly scat- 
tered about. Seventeen men, women and children were dug out of 
the rubbish dead : all the windows were broken, and great part of 
the eastern wing damaged ; the grand sea bastions were not injured, 
and only a small part of the wall and parapet on the land side. The 
force of the explosion of nine barrels burst open the door of the 
western magazine, tore a large bolt away, but happily reached no 
farther. 

1782, Francis Leske, Esq. was deputy governor, with a salary of 
91/. 5*. per annum. 

This castle remained after the explosion in a very dilapidated state ; 
and the sea shortly after destroyed large portions of the outworks, 
the watch-towers, &c. The interior, however, was very picturesque, 
the gateways of the keep and the staircases, with the deep-set win- 
dows and framework being highly interesting. In 1814 the greater 
part was rebuilt under the direction of Major-general Fisher, and 
now consists of a strong fortifled tower, surrounded by a noble terrace, 
on one part of which has been lately erected a beacon-light, a moat, 
and covered way having communication by subterraneous passages. 
It has accommodation for two hundred men, with apartments for the 
officers. The approach is by a winding passage and drawbridge 
leading to a large gateway, above which appear the royal arms of 
Charles the Second, which have been replaced by the Board of Ord- 
nance. The inscription is as follows : CAROLVS : II : REX : 
ANNO : REGNI : XXXVIII : A : D : MDCLXXXIII. 

SAINT PAUL'S CHURCH. 

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



s. d. 



Admiralty, Rt. Hon. Lords 

Commissioners 200 

Allnut, Mr. Samuel 1 

Arnaud, Messrs E. & E. B. 20 

Atcheson, Mr. N 5 

Bishop, Mr. Hugh 2 

Blackburn, Mr. C 5 

Boville, Messrs S. & J 2 

Bradley. Mr. J 5 

Cull, Mr 5 

Cumyns, Rev. R. H 20 



£. s. d. 

Cunningham, Mrs 3 3 

Curtis, Mr. Jacob 3 3 

Davey, Mr. J 2 

Dusautoy, Rev. W. S . . . 1 1 

Garrett, Sir George 10 10 

Guantlett, Rev, Dr 200 

Goldsmith, Mr. James 5 

Goldsmith, Mrs. S 5 

Grant, Rev. Robert 5 5 

Grant, Messrs and Co 21 

Grant, Mr. Thomas 10 10 



It 

List of Subscribers Continued. 



£. s. d 

Hall, Captain, R.N 20 

Hancock, Mrs. Mary 10 10 

Harrison, Rev. J 5 

Hayward, Mr 5 5 

Hellyer, Mr. Henry 2 

Henville, Rev. C. B 70 

Henville, Rev. James 10 10 



£. s. d. 

Inman, Rev. Dr 5 

King; Mr. George 2 2 

Kitson, Mr. John 5 

Knott, Mr. Thomas 5 

Lara, Dr 10 10 

Lind, Dr 26 5 

Lindegren, Mr. John 10 10 



Hoffmeister, Mr. C. W. . , 5 Littlejohns, Mr. Isaac 2 2 

Huish Miss 10 | Lloyd, Rev. D 5 

The foundation stone was laid by Sir Samuel Spicer, Mayor ; 
and Dr. Gauntlett, on September 13, 1820, and the church was 
consecrated on Friday morning, October 25th, 1822, by Tom- 
line, Lord Bishop of Winchester. At about eleven o'clock his 
Lordship, attended by the Chancellor of the Diocese, the Resi- 
dent Clergy, and the Committee with a number of respectable inha- 
bitants of the towns, proceeded from the Bush Inn, to the Church, 
where had assembled a large auditory.— At the entrance the Bishop 
stopped, and a petition was read by the Deputy Registrar, praying 
him to consecrate the Church. His Lordship then proceeded to the 
Communion Table, repeating alternately with the Clergy, the first 
ten verses of the 24th Psalm. Having taken his seat on the North 
side of the Communion Table, and his Chaplain one on the South 
side, of the same, the Chancellor read the legal instruments for erec- 
ting the Church, by whom directed to be done, its order and 
service. The Bishop proceeded to the invoking the blessing of 
Almighty God in the dedication of the Church, in the performan- 
ces of all the Sacraments and Ordinances of the Established Church. 
The Consecration was then read by the Chancellor, signed by the 
Bishop, and by him ordered to be Registered. The Minister of the 
Church, then read the usual service in the course of which the Bi- 
shop offered several prayers. This service being concluded, the 
Rev. R. H. Cumyns, as Sequestrator of the Vicarage of Portsea ? 
preached a Sermon from 2 Chron. vi. 40. — " Now, my God, let 
I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent 
unto the prayer that is made in this place." The Sermon ended, 
the Bishop and Clergy made their offerings, and the Ministers col- 
lected the offerings of the Congregation, which amounted to 127/, 
Upwards of one hundred communicants, besides the Clergy, par- 
took of the Holy Communion. The children of the National and 
Beneficial Society's Schools, with those of St. John's (exceeding 
five hundred in number,) formed not the least interesting part of the 
Procession to the Church. 



12 

The attendance on the occasion was immense. The church was 
opened for divine service on the Sunday following. 

The Church stands, on a piece of land, the free gift of Daniel 
and Henry Hewitt, Esqrs. and is a noble specimen of Gothic architec- 
ture, from a design of Francis Goodwin, Esq. architect. The church 
is in length ninety-four feet, in width sixty, exclusive of the stair- 
cases, corridor, vestry, &c. The exterior of the church is of Bath- 
stone, with four highly ornamented turrets at the corners, eighty 
feel in height. The windows on the sides are of noble proportions, 
the frames of ornamented cast-iron, the western front adorned 
with a lofty window ; carved niches on each side the centre door- 
way, with the portals of the galleries. The projecting cornices, 
buttresses, and turrets, exhibit a splendid specimen of the simple or 
plain Gothic. The eastern front is beautified in a similar manner, 
having an immense circular window in the centre, and projecting 
vestries below, and the whole is surrounded by an iron railing, the 
workmanship of Mr. Evans, erected at a cost of 400/. The interior 
of the fabric is plain yet elegant ; the ceiling coved, springing from 
each side, intersected by the pointed arches of the windows, unsup- 
ported by pillars, and adorned with suitable cornices. The galleries, 
which contain nine hundred free sittings for the poor, and seats for 
the charity children and the choir, are supported by small cast-iron 
Gothic pillars. In front of the west window in 1827, a neat 
Organ, corresponding with the architecture of the building, was 
erected by voluntary contributions, and opened by the master hand 
of Mr. Sibly, Organist of St. Thomas's; a discourse applicable to 
the occasion, was delivered by the Rev. Samuel Slocock ; at the 
conclusion of the Service a collection was made from pew to pew* 
This Organ was in 1838 enlarged by Mr. Pilcher of London. 

The lower part of the church is pewed, and affords accommoda- 
tion for eleven hundred persons. These pews are let for the sup- 
port of the officiating minister. The cost of this church was six- 
teen thousand, three hundred and sixty nine pounds, eighteen shill- 
ings, two pence halfpenny. 

A painting has been placed (1827) above the communion table, 
by subscription of a few spirited individuals, viz. the Shipwreck of 
St. Paul on the Island of Melita ? the moment seized on by the ar- 
tist is that in which the Saint returns thanks to the Almighty for 
the deliverance. A figure of St. Paul occupies the centre, in an at- 
titude expressive of pious emotion. The ardour of his character is 
somewhat abated, from the peculiar circumstances of the moment ; 



13 

feut the outstretched hand and raised countenance well express the 
seal and subdued intrepidity of the rescued apostle. The head is 
finely drawn; and the manner of the drapery is that of the old 
masters. It was painted by Mr, Charles Skottowe : the picture mea- 
sures nine feet by six ; the height of the figure six feet four inches* 
The bell was presented by Thomas Thistlethwayte, Esq. of South- 
wick ; and the elegant communion service of silver plate by the 
Rev. the Vicar, On the flagon is the following inscription : " Po- 
culum hoc, cum duobus alteris, et duabus Patinis, in usum hujus 
Capellae Parochialis D. D. Carolus Brune Henville, A.M. Vicarius 
de Portsea, mdcccxxiii." 



The Chapel of the Particular Baptists at Southsea, is near the 
Bush hotel, ; it is a large building erected in 1815; at an expense 
of 1900/; the interior fitted with wainscoting taken from French 
prizes during the last war ; attached is a burial-place ; there is a 
chapel also in the White Swan field, and a third in Church Path and 
another in a Rope Walk, near Hyde Park Corner, 

St. Paul's School. Several gentlemen having met at the Town 
Hall, on September 26, 1825, formed themselves into a society for 
founding and supporting a School, purchased for 600£ a site near 
St. Paul's Church Southsea, appointed a committee to superintend 
a proper buildings and drew up resolutions. After a short time,, 
"2300^. were raised, by one hundred shares of23f. each, and the school 
was erected by contract, from the design of Mr. Owen, 

In Grigg-street,is a Hall formerly the property of the Provident 
Society, erected by the members in 1827, and opened on September 
26th of the same year. It is a fine room, the lower part is used as 
a school-room and the upper for meetings of a public nature. 

1812, January. The Corporation grant land for the Lancasteriam 
school, in the White Swan Field ; It is a small brick building. 

Sadler's Wells Theatre at the White Swan Inn. Luke Kent first 
kept the turnpike-gate at Postbridge, and afterrc ards became landlord 
of the Goat public-house, where he amassed a good fortune. He 
then opened the Sadler's Wells, and was assisted by James Perry 
and the most celebrated mimic of his time, who assumed the name 
of Rossignol He was accustomed to procure a variety of birds $ 
and, having first given his excellent imitation of the songs of each,, 
to let them loose amongst the audience, to their no small gratification. 
The scheme failed and many foolish people believed that the theatre 
ia this place was abandoned, because in the dances during the? 

T 



u 

performances the actors were always alarmed by finding one perscrts 
more in the corps de ballet^ than belonged to the company. The 
story is as old as the times of Alleyn and Dr. Faustus, and has 
migrated to almost every theatre in the kingdom. 

Kent afterwards became the guard of the Chichester coach, and 
he was the first individual who filled such a place on the establish- 
ment of mail coaches, he left a sum of money, on condition of the 
guard always blowing the horn when he passed the place of his 
interment, Farlington Church, 

WATER WORKS. 

The towns are supplied by two companies, one acting under the 
provision of an act of parliament "for raising water by means of a 
steam-engine, from certain wells without the garrison The principal 
agent in this transaction was W. Nicholson, Esq. the civil engineer, 
and the undertaking was accomplished by a subscription. The en- 
gine-house is situate in the White-Swan field, about a quarter of a 
mile from the Landport-gate, and the water is distributed to all parts 
of the town by cast-iron pipes, being first received in reservoirs in 
the neighbourhood of the works, where it is allowed to deposit any 
sand or impurity. This company is called "The Portsmouth Water- 
work Company." 

" The Farlington Water-work Company," is founded on acts of 
a more ancient date. In 1741, April 25th, an act for supplying 
the town and shipping at Portsmouth was granted to Thomas Smith, 
Esq. as a reward for the recovery of large quantities of land from 
the sea, near Langstone Harbour. Peter Taylor, Esq. succeeded 
this gentleman in his estates, and strove to carry the act into exe- 
cution, by digging an immense well in Crookhorn-copse, near Pur- 
brook, and then carrying an archway of brickthrough Portsdown-hill : 
but after an immense expense of mining through the whole bed 
of chalk, till the workmen emerged at an opening behind Farling- 
ton church, not a drop of water was met with, and the speculation 
failed. Mr. Taylor then sold his right in the aforesaid act to a party 
of monied men in London, who opened some copious springs in the 
Farlington marshes, erected a steamengine, and excavated a reser- 
voir on the hill, into which the water being forced, descends to 
Portsmouth, a distance of seven miles, by iron-pipes. The earthen 
pipes at different times discovered in the streets are those used by 
the first projector in 1742. 



THE 



HISTORY 



TOWN AND BOROUGH OF GOSPORT, 



INCLUDING 



ALVERSTOKE AND ANGLESEY, 



WITH THE NAVAL AND MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 



HENRY SLIGHT, ESQ 



PORTSMOUTH i 
SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS. 



GOSPORT 

THE NAVAL ESTABLISHMENTS— FORTIFICATIONS fee. 



VICTUALLING DEPARTMENT. 

** On the Gosport side of the harbour, enclosed by the new For- 
tifications, stands WeoviL It was originally a large private house, 
•with an extensive garden, on the edge of the common, the property 
of Captain Flyers, by whom it was sold to the Countess of Clancar- 
ty, and subsequently purchased by Government. It was a long time 
occupied by Mr. Holmes, one of the contractors for supplying the 
Navy with beer, who erected on it several large Brewing-houses. 
These, however, (May 1, 1752,) not being capacious enough for the 
purposes designed, new works (June 27,) were formed by Messrs. 
Cummins and Shepherd of Gosport, and Mr. Quick of Portsmouth, 
and the necessary plant (May 4, 1753,) furnished by Mr. Powell 
of Portsmouth. Mr. Morris (August 15, 1753,) enlarged the mas- 
ter brewer's-house, originally a large barn. The creek was deepen- 
ed, and the foot wharfs made of oak, (July 3, 1753,) for 426/. The 
first cargo of coals were delivered on Government account June 28, 
1753. 1754-5, additional plant furnished by Mr. Powell of Dept- 
ford. The rolling-way, (772 feet long at first, and afterwards much 
extended,) six new brewing-houses and stores, and a horse-mill, 
were (August 3, 1756, till November 30, 1757,) erected at a cost of 
4600/.; and the stone wharfs and basin were formed by Mr. Temp- 
lar in 1778, at a cost of 3604/. In 1780, great additions were made 
at an expense of 1385/.; still the accommodations were not adequate 
to the demands of the navy, and Mr. Wyatt built the new Brew- 
house, at a cost of 8800/., capable of brewing a daily supply of 
beer for 13,000 men. On the left of the entrance is the house for 
the principal officer, and the range of stores for wine, beer, &c.; on 
the right, the large brewhouse, water-reservoirs, cooperage, &c. 
A canal leads to the harbour, at the head of which is a large basin 
to receive small vessels. 

Parliamentary Return of Expenses incurred in transferring the 
Victualling Department to WeoviL — Sums of money expended 
since 1st June, 1827, fur buildings and works at Weovil, distin- 
guishing such buildings and works, and the sums expended for the 



2 

Hew Establishment, from such as would have been required on the 
Old Establishment only ; also an account of the expense incurred 

in the removal of the Establishment from Portsmouth to Weovil? 
with the sums required for the completion of the same % 

Amount Wanted to 

Works which would have been required at the Old paid. complete. 

Establishment : £. s. d. £. 

Repairing roof of the south brewhouse 1,612 7 6 — 

A third story to the north store, and new pav- 
ing the ground floor 7,311 2 1 — 

Rebuilding wharf wall „ 14,580 11 .480 

Rebuilding south jetty , 1,890 2,110 

Rebuilding south store houses, and brewhouse 

stillings. &c , . 990 17,000 

Reservoir, and laying down pipes 1,260 1,035 

Removal of mud and constructing campshott — 6,280 



£27,643 9 7 37,905 

Amount Wanted t» 

the New Establishment, paid. complete. 

£. s. d. £, ». 

Mill, bakehouse, and storehouse .,..,., .22,950 3,650 

Kiln, with furnace plates, &c, 315 — 

Steam-engines and machinery 11,000 7,500 

Setting boilers of steam engines 655 15 7 — 

Slaughter-house, vegetable store & weigh- 
ing room, laying on water, forming sew- 
ers, and paving cattle yard 1,390 1,206 

Offices ..2,070 1,302 12 

Corn store 9,360 2,688 

The well ...... 4,800 2,050 



£53,040 15 7 18,396 12 

No other expenses than those herein-mentioned have been incurred by the 
Removal of the Victualling Department to Weovil, but a saving of Establish- 
ment to the amount of 4,03R per annum has been effected by concentrating 
the department, besides- an annual saving of upwards of 1000?. per annum for 
the ordinary repairs of the Portsmouth premises : if the removal of the Vic- 
tualling Establishment from Portsmouth had not taken place, very large re- 
pairs of the buildings must have been undertaken, part of the wharf wall must 
have been immediately re-constructed, and the mud in the Camber at Ports- 
mouth must have been removed, the expense of which works would have 
amounted to many thousand pounds ; and from the dilapidated state of the 
wharf wall, old storehouses, and rolling stages at Weovil, it would have been 
necessary to repair and rebuild them, as has now been done : the buildings hav- 
ing been on the premises when they were purchased, about seventy years ago. 



An Account of the several sums of money at which the Premises of the 
"Victualling Establishment at Portsmouth was sold. 

Sold for. 

Quay Store — to Custom-house ............ £8,500 

Agent's house and stores adjoining 6,457 

Bakehouse 2,075 

Long store-house in King-street 5,910 

Long quay store — to Navy Board 13,200 

Buildings adjoining thereto — ditto 3,100 

Mill exchange for other property, with Ordnance, valued at. . 4,000 
Maison Dieu at Dover, offered to Ordnance at .... 7,5100 



£50,742 



3 

An Account of the number of Persons belonging to the Victualling Esta- 
blishment at Portsmouth who have been reduced, in consequence of the re- 
moval of the Establishment to Weovil, with the amount of their Salaries, 
Wages, &c 

One A gent £600 

Two Clerks of second class 420 

OneClerk of third class • 150 

One Foreman of Coopers 160 

Eleven Coopers 741 7 

Two Masons and Labourers 149 6 1 

One Bricklayer and Labourer 82 11 1 

One Gate Warden } 

Four Cellar Labourers V 1,563 9 6 

Thirtyseven Lab o urers } 

Three Millers , 164 6 6 

£4,031 2 
G. A. CHETWYND STAPYLTON. 
F. EDGCOMBE. 

The arrangements which are all upon the most extensive scale are 
disposed in such capital order that not the slighest difficulty ever 
arises in supplying any number of ships with provisions at a mo- 
ment's notice. The first set of storehouses contain, rum, tea, wine, 
tobacco and cocoa — next follow the beer stores and brewery in which 
is prepared and kept the beer for the Naval Hospitals and the 
Marine Infirmaries — then comes the cooperage, a vast and most ex- 
pensive establishment, the necessity of which may one day be sus- 
pended by the use of cubical iron tanks for all kinds of provisions — 
next we have the six meat stores, which contain beef, pork, suet, 
vinegar and salt, each of these vast rooms is capable of holding nine 
thousand tons of salt provisions — then come one large and three 
small provision stores, these contain flour, oatmeal, raisins, peas and 
soap — after these, stores for all kinds of cloathing both for the Sea- 
men and Marines — Bibles, Prayer Books, Tracts and Naval Histo- 
ries, Life of Nelson, &c ; — farther on is the bread store, capable of 
containing twenty thousand bags or two million pounds of biscuit. 

Farther up in the grounds on a scite which was formerly the gar- 
dens and fish pond of the manor house of Weovil lies the grand 
reservoir into which nearly fifty tons of water can be pumped in one 
h our — from this place a pipe extends to the edge of the wharf, which 
fills either the large tank vessels containing each forty tons, or it may 
be carried away in boats ; the water is of the finest kind, is raised 
by the steam-engine, and the well from which it is supplied is three 
hundred and sixty feet in depth. 

" Under the large reservoirs, (June 18, 1779,) is a mass of hard 
rock, which prevents the formation of the well in that direction ;" 
and in digging the second, after obtaining a good supply, the work- 



men, were not satisfied, but continued to dig, when suddenly open- 
ing a loose vein of sand the water disappeared, and they were oblig- 
ed to close the opening of the bottom of the well with a wadding 
of tow and white lead, to retain the original supply. The fleets are 
supplied with water from Weovil. 

THE BISCUIT BAKING ESTABLISHMENT. 

The sole invention and carrying into practical operation of which 
is exclusively due to the talent of Thomas T. Grant, Esq. a gen- 
tleman of great ingenuity and scientific attainments in whom is com- 
bined a sound knowledge of principles, with a fertility of resource 
in their application, combined with steady habits of business and 
every day good sense. 

Along the front of the wharfs which are very commodious stand 
arranged four granaries capable of containing six thousand quarters 
of corn — next are the mills by which this corn is ground, a very 
material point, inasmuch as all possibility of mixing improper ingre- 
dients with the flour is prevented and precisely the proper portion 
of the finer part of the bran is retained to make good biscuit meal. 
These flour mills are furnished with ten pair of stones (worked by a 
portion of the power of the same steam-engine which raises the water 
to the reservoir before described,) by which forty bushels of flour 
can be ground and dressed ready for baking in one hour. 

The Baking Establishment consists of nine ovens, each thirteen 
feet by eleven and seventeen inches and a half in heigth. These 
are heated by furnaces attached to each, so constructed, that a 
blast of hot air and fire sweeps through them and gives the necessa- 
ry heat in a very short space of time. The nine ovens bake a ton 
of bread an hour, or ten thousand biscuits. 

PROCESS OF PREPARING BISCUIT FOR HER MAJESTY'S NAVY. 

The bread is now prepared almost entirely by machinery, and the process is 
exceedingly beautiful; and though objected to on its first introduction, the ma- 
chinery bread is now universally popular in the navy, formerly the sailors rarely 
took up their full allowance, now it seldom accurs that a single pound is left 
behind. 

I. The first operation is mixing the meal and water together, this is done 
by introducing into a trough thirteen gallons and a half of water, and then al- 
lowing to entre it by a channel communicable with an upper room, two hun- 
dred and eighty pounds of buiscuit meal, the moment this is finished, a bell 
rings, and the trough is closed. 

II. A singular apparatus of two sets of stirrers or knives is now made to 
revolve amongst the flower and water by machinery for a minute and a half, 
during which period the knives make twenty six revolutions, and the dough 
thus rudely mixed weighs three hundred and eighty eight pounds, and is suffi- 
cient for 1250 biscuits, or two suits each being 100 pounds in -weight when pro- 
perly dried. 



III. The next process is to cast the lumps of dough under huge cylinders of 
ton, each weighing 14 cwt. called breaking rollers which are moved by the 
machinery horizontally along stout tables ; the dough is thus formed into large 
rude pieces six feet long and several inches thick, and inthese are passed re- 
peatedly under the rollers, one part being folded or doubled on the other, so 
thet the roller forcing these parts together obliges them to mix, till after a 
proper length of time, not the slightest trace of unequality can be discerned 
in any part of its substance and no traces of dry flour are discernable. 

IV. The dough is now cut into small portions and being placed on large flat 
boards, and transported by the sole agency of the machinery in a most comical 
manner, from the centre to the extremity of the baking room, here it is placed 
under the sheet or blanket roller, and the kneading being quite complete, it 
only requires to be divided into biscuits. 

V. The division of the dough is admirably performed, the cutting plate con- 
sists of a heavy net work of fifty two sharp edged hexagonal frames, each as large 
as a biscuit. This frame being moved slowly up and down, by the machinery, 
the workman watching his opportunity, slides under it the before mentioned 
blanket of dough, about the size of the leaf of a dining table, and in the next 
minute down comes the cutting frame indents the sheet or blanket, but does not 
actually cut it through, for enough of the substance is left uncut, to enable the 
workman at the mouth of the oven, to jerk the whole mass of fifty -two biscuits 
Unbroken into the oven. 

The dough is prevented sticking to the frame by most ingenious devise ; be- 
sides the acting portion of the hexagonal frame, there is a small flat open frame 
moveable up and down, and carrying above it a ball of iron, seven ounces in 
weight ; when the great frame comes down upon the dough, each of these mi- 
nor frames yields to the pressure, and all the little iron balls are seen to rise 
up ; as soon as the cutting frame rises, the weight of the iron balls acting on 
the little flat frames above each biscuit, thrusts the whole blanket off. 

The baking is continued for a quarter of an hour, and it is then withdrawn,, 
broken into pieces' of the proper shape and size, and placed for three days in 
the drying rooms heated to 85 or 95, which completes the pi'ocess. 

The making two million cwt. of biscuit, the average quantity issued for the 
last five years to the navy, costs by this machinery three thousand seven hun- 
dred and fifty pounds exclusive of the interest of the cost of the engines : made 
in the old way by hand it cost thirteen thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds, 

A VISIT FROM A YOUTHFUL QUEEN. 

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and Princess Vic- 
toria, having announced their intention of visiting Weovil, to see 
the process of baking biscuit for the navy ; fixed on Friday, and the 
weather proving delightfully propitious, the sea-port, was all bustle 
and animation ; visitors to witness the gay scene pouring in from all 
directions. At eleven o'clock a Guard of Honour marched into the 
Yard, and took post at the Stairs, the troops forming an avenue from 
thence to the house of the Superintendant. Shortly after eleven 
o'clock the Emerald yatch, bearing the Royal Standard, passed up 
the Harbour, the Victory and ships-of-war as they passed manned 
yards and cheered. Their Royal Highnesses accompanied by the 
Heads of Departments landed and inspected very minutely the whole 
of the extensive Establishment, with which they expressed them- 
selves much gratified. 



6 

Since 1827, Woevil has been greatly improved by the new build- 
ings, wharfs, entrance gates/offices, &c. 

THE NAVAL MAGAZINE. 

To the northward of Gosport, on the Harbour edge, is a maga- 
zine, called Priddy's Hard : a strong white building, with residences 
for several officers, and a small canal, 'communicating with the lake 
or branch of the Harbour. — March 7th, ,1769 : " For erecting a 
magazine at Priddy's Hard, in Portsmouth Harbour, 4000/. 

Goverment also bought three pieces of furze land, containing 
twenty-five acres, three roods, sixteen fperches : and two pieces of 
arable land, in extent fourteen acres, two roods and two perches, all 
which are on the north side of Forlon lake, near Gosport, and in 
1814 some other property belonging to the Fareham Charity. In 
1833-34 one thousand three hundred and seventy pounds were ex- 
pended in repairs, &c. This magazine is divided from Woevil by 
Forton Lake, which extends about two miles inland ; at the mouth 
is a small earthwork called Woevil Battery, and this commences the 
Fortifications of Gosport. 

MILITARY HISTORY- FORTS, BARRACKS, &c. 

Iceland's description. 

" The lande at the west pointe of Portesmuth Haven is sandy 
nesse and sone brekitt of ygoing plane to the open se. There is a 
round tourre with orrdinaunce at the west point of the mouth of 
Portesmuth Havan ; and a little way uppe to the haven is a greate 
creke, goying by west up into the lande a mile, called Ostrepole 
Lake. Scant a quarter of a mile above this is Gosport village." 

1720. Except the Fort at the mouth of the harbour, and a small 
outwork before the main street of the town, Gosport is only de- 
fended by a mud wall which surrounds it, and a trench, or dry ditch, 
of about ten feet depth and breadth. " Franklin." 

Gosport had been fortified with walls of earth ; but it is of late 
years that the strength has been much increased, and the circum- 
ference enlarged* The works will not, however, bear comparison 
with those of Portsmouth, nor is their appearance so imposing, being 
destitute of trees. There are gates in the lines leading to Haslar 
and Forton, being archways, erected in 1800, but having nothing 
remarkable in their architecture ; and there is much vacant ground 
within the walls, which extend in a semicircle from Forton Lake 
beyond Woevil, to Haslar Lake on the other side. 

The fort mentioned by Franklin was erected in the reign of 



Charles the Second, and denominated Charles Fort, being a square 
tower and bastion, mounted with cannon ; It is now in ruins on the 
Beach, hidden from casual observance by a house called the Castle 
tavern. A second Fort, has been vulgarly ascribed to the reign of 
Stephen, but which was erected at the same time, and was of the 
same square character, and termed James's Fort, (though commonly 
called Borough Castle,) till the last year stood on a small island in the 
harbour : It has been partly demolished for the materials : It was 
used for many years as a place of interment for convicts ; and the 
island known by the name of "Rat Island." The principle defences 
of the coast are, however, the fortifications, called the Block-house 
Fort, at the mouth of the haven ; and Monkton Fort, near Stoke's 
Bay. The former is mounted with a range of ordnance of large 
calibre, and commands the entrance channel of the harbour. 

BLOCK-HOUSE FORT 

Is now a complete fortification in itself, having in the present 
century been greatly improved and enlarged. A salute from this 
covered bastion has a remarkably splendid effect. In the reign of 
Anne, the ditches round this fort communicated freely with the har- 
bour, the walls were of little elevation, and in the centre stood 
the small dwelling-house still in existence. The approach, on the 
land side, is by a winding passage, with a wall on each side, and a 
drawbridge leading to a handsome stone gateway ; over which is in- 
scribed in a neat tablet, 1708, three cannons, three balls, and the 
word Anno above. On a smaller tablet, rather higher than the for- 
mer, appears, " Reformed mdcccxiii." The whole surmounted by 
the double G. R. and crown. Over the archway, within the fort, 
on a small tablet, is inscribed " G. R. III." 

Near the point of land called the Kicker, stands a second very 
strong line of battery, faced with Portland stone, commanding the 
roadstead of Spithead : built on the same principles as the Block- 
house Fort, at the suggestion of his Grace the Duke of Richmond, 
and called Fort Monkton, containing thirty-two pieces of heavy ord- 
nance. In it are combined all the improvements in military archi- 
tecture : and it is capacious enough to receive a large body of troops; 
a strong redoubt extends also towards the west. 

The military posts are principally at Haslar, behind the Naval 
Hospital ; and at Forton, where a few years since was erected a 
large Military Hospital, which has since been converted into bar- 
racks. It consists of four very lofty and extensive brick pavilions 
connected by arcades of great extent, with a parade ground of some 

v 



acres. On the opposite square is the entrance gate, with the apart* 
merits for officers. These are the most airy and elegant barracks in 
the neighbourhood. The wooden Barracks at Forton, used as a 
French prison during the war, have been sold and removed ; as have 
those formerly within the walls of Gosport, near Woevil. The Prison 
at Forton usually in the Napoleon War, contained four thousand 
French Prisoners of War : It was then a place of great resort for 
the purpose of purchasing toys, &c. manufactured by the prisoners. 

HASLAR ROYAL NAVAL HOSPITAL. 

On this site was formerly a large farm, a windmill, and a copse 
called Hazelwood ; in the reign of Henry viij there was here a cir- 
cular tower ; a painting, said to represent the original Farm-house 
at Haslar, where now stands the Hospital ; is at Woevil. 

At a short distance from the Blockhouse Fort, at the edge of an 
inlet, or creek, stands Haslar Hospital, erected by VIr. John Turner, 
at the recommendation of the Earl of Sandwich, between the years 
1746 and 1762. 

There is a large landing-place from the lake immediately in front 
of the gates of the hospital, to which a broad roadway leads across 
the open space of land ; on this space is erected a guard-house, 
where a guard is constantly on duty to prevent any tumult. A lofty 
brick-wall passes round the airing-ground, containing thirty-three 
acres, and a -mile in circumference ; and beyond this, extend some 
large portions of land, used as cemetery, and for other purposes of 
the hospital, being altogether forty-six acres. The jetty, drains, and 
main front cost 90,000/. sterling, and were finished before the wings 
were commenced. 

This noble building is one of the largest brick edifices in the 
world. The mass of building below the surface of the earth (which 
is a dry gravelly soil) is equal in bulk to that which appears above. 
By the original plans, it was intended to have formed a square ; (a 
drawing of this may be found in one of the earlier numbers of the 
Gentleman's Magazine.) The entrance to the hospital is through a 
pair of handsome gates with side entrances, close to which are the 
Warder's lodge and the Lieutenant's office on either side, passing 
which, the whole front, four stories high, and five hundred and sixty- 
seven feet in extent, presents itself to view. In the centre of this 
is a lofty arched entrance, leading to three ranges of massive arches * 
above is a fine sculpture in Portland stone (carved by Mr. Pearce.) 



While stem of ship— rich peariy ore — 
And shells complete th' entablature. 

Next Commerce, with unsparing hand, 
Sheds plenty o'er the smiling land ; 
Gold, fruit, and never failing flowers 
From golden Cornu-copia showers — 
On Bales of Merchandize her seat, 
The world's vast treasure at her feet. 

Near this a ship -wrecked Sailor stands, 
In mute despair on barren sands; 
To whose distress and prospects drear 
A friendly Bird doth minister j 
While Boreas bids the tempest roar, 
And shells and corals crown the shore. 



On the rich pediment behold 

The arms of England's monarchy, 
The various sculptures which unfold 

The pomp of naval dignity. 
First, Navigation, boldly shining, 
Her arms on blazoned Prow reclining, 
While bending low with gesture sweet — 
A wounded Sailor at her feet 
She bathes his wounds, with care attends 
His every want, each woe befriends 
High in mid-air the Northern star, 
Sure gu de to ancient mariner,- 
On the fore-ground the compass wheel, 
The mystic polar-pointing steel j 
And at the angle, low reclined 
The Guardians of the Western wind ; 

Over the entrance was a spacious hall, one hundred feet long and 
fifty broad, formerly used as a chapel ; it is now divided : one part, 
being the operating theatre, a second portion fitted up with vapour 
baths : above is the agent's store, and apartments belonging to the 
surgeons. To the right and left extend the wards, in a double range, 
of which there are one hundred and fourteen, including those in the 
roof, all uniform, sixty feet long and twenty feet broad, and filled 
with beds for the patients. These wards extend in a double line of 
building, forming three sides of a square, the wings or sides extend- 
ing five hundred and fifty-three feet in length. These wings, at 
right angles with the principal front, are divided in the centre by 
two smaller buildings ; beyond which the double ranges of wards 
again continue. The approaches are by staircases of most commo- 
dious dimensions, and, in the different angles, are small rooms 
termed cabins, for the nurses, surgeons, &c. Within the hospital 
extends a spacious piazza, twenty-four feet wide, and the whole 
length of the front and angles. Broad walks, and grass-plats, with 
groups of flowering shrubs, add much to the beauty of the internal 
area. It was first intended to erect the hospital in the shape of a 
perfect square, but this plan was afterwards abandoned, and a chapel 
erected in 1763, seventy-two feet in length and thirty-six in breadth 
connected to the wings by a very lofty iron railing, now forms the 
fourth side. The chapel is a neat edifice, with a small tower and 
clock ; but, being covered with roman cement, spoils in some mea- 
sure the symmetry of the general style of the hospital. " 1763. — 
For completing the chapel at Haslar, 1000/." In the building di- 
viding the left wing, the Commissioners of the Victualling depart- 
ment have lately erected two noble rooms ; the lower one superbly 
fitted up in mahogany for a library, and the upper one finished in 
the style of Grecian design for a museum ; the table and upright 
cases being of mahogany, and most classic forms. 

A splendid marble bust from the Studio of Chantrey, was in 1835, 
placed in the Library of the Hospital : thi? beautiful work of art which 



w 

is almost a breathing representation of the original, is the result of » 
subscription of the medical officers of the navy, and is here placed 
to mark the high sense of gratitude felt towards a distinguished no- 
foleman, through whose acumen and discernment the naval medical 
establishment acquired additional consequence and rank. 
The following inscription is on the pedestal, 

HANG 
QUAM SPECTAS IMAGINEM 

HENMCUS VICE COMITIS DE MELVILLE 

RERUM NAUTICARUM OFFICIO 

PRCEPOSITI 

MEDICI CHIRURGIQUE NAVALES 

OR EXIMIAM IN EORUM 

ORDINEM BENIGNITATEM 

GRATI 

P 

Behind the chapel at the extremity of the area, are the houses of 
the Commissioner or Governor, and the different officers, erected 
in 2796-8 by Messrs Sheen. Behind the centre of the north wing 
is the dispensary, and on each side of the front area, the residences 
of the agent, steward, &c. the fumigating house, &c. where the 
clothes of patients are cleansed, and alphabetically arranged. Be- 
hind the south wing are the wards for the lunatics, with large en- 
closures for their proper exercise, &c: there are also baths for pa- 
tients with infectious diseases. 

This Hospital will contain eighteen hundred patients, exclusive 
of nurses and attendants ; a much larger number have, however, 
been occasionally accommodated during the war : and the most dis- 
tinguished of the naval medical officers are employed. It is sup- 
plied with excellent water ; and, all the drains &c. are washed with 
salt-water twice every day. A circular tower behind the officers' 
houses formerly was used for the supply of water ; but it is now aban- 
doned, not being good enough for use, except for washing. " 1758, 
January 23, Towards carrying on the works at Haslar Hospital 
10,000/.— 1760, For Haslar Hospital, 10,000/.— and on yearly; 
1762, for completing Haslar, 7130/. 

On Friday, June 24th, 1814, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, the 
Duchess of Oldenburg, the Imperial suite, and a large train of no- 
bility, visited Haslar, minutely inspecting every part, and testifying 
their entire satisfaction at the comfort, order, and general system, 
which prevailed. When introduced into the Dispensary, and shown 
the arrangement of the medicines, &c. the Emperor remarked, 
laughing, " It is all very pretty — very pretty : but not good for the 
stomach/ ' laying his hand on his breast. 



THE TOWN OF GOSPORT. 



CIVIL HISTORY, &c. 

Gosport is an ancient borough and market-town, consisting of 
three principal streets, — High-street, North and South streets, which 
intersect the place, and are crossed by others of lesser note. To- 
wards the north is a large square, open to the sea, called Cold Har- 
bour. Within the fortifications are several vacant fields and closes. 

The Bishop of Winchester claims jurisdiction over the town, bo- 
rough, and parish of Gosport, over the sea-shore, between high and 
low water mark, and over so much of the sea as a man can ride into 
on a white horse, at the time of low-water mark, and overreach with 
a lance. "The Bishop holds Alwarestoke (Alverstoke.) It was 
always abbey land. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was 
assessed at six pounds. A knight held half a hide. Sawinus held 
it, but was not allowed to remove anywhere ; It is worth twenty- 
five shillings." 

With the concurrence of the Bishop, in the 51st year of George 
the Third, a new market was erected by shares on the beach ; it is 
a square building of white brick, with arched windows, and bonding 
vaults below ; and in the upper story, a large room called the 
Court-room, in which the Bishop of Winchester holds his manorial 
court. The market, instead of being held in, is held around. On 
a flag-staff above this building, the flags by which the fares of the 
ferry are regulated are hoisted. The original market-place, was in 
the centre of the High-street, a very ruinous structure of wood ; 
above were two small rooms (in which the lord of the manor held 
his courts leet and baronial,) and an octagonal tower with a clock. 
In a niche at the end was a gilded statue of lead, of William the 
Third in the Roman costume, by Sir R. Chen£e. The Bridewell 
is= near North Cross Street. 

There are two fa rs at Gosport, of trifling extent, viz. on May 4, 
and October 10. The act of parliament passed for erecting the new 
market, in 1811, recognized the ancient fairs, which were granted 
by the then lord of the manor, Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, 
in 115B, in consideration of kindness shown to his brother, King 
Stephen, who, in a voyage from Normandy, landed here after a storm : 
The Bishop called the village God's Port, bestowed on it the fairs 
above mentioned, and three market-days in each week. Until the 
grant was discovered amongst the archives of the See of Winchester, 



it was supposed the village derived its name from the great quantity 
of goss, or gorze (provincial — furze) growing near it. 

HASLAR BRIDGE. 

The usual passage to the Hospital is from Gosport, across Haslar- 
lake (a branch of the harbour which extends inland in two branches 
as far as the village of Stoke) over this Lake there was formerly a 
long wooden bridge, called Forbe's Bridge, but becoming dangerous 
it was removed on May 16th, 1801, and for many years the passage 
was effected by small ferry boats ; but several accidents having hap- 
pened and the loss of life, in 18-34 a company was formed, an act 
of Parliament obtained, and a new bridge from a design of Mr. 
Adams was built by Messrs Mackintosh. This is a great public 
convenience, the road leading to Anglesey, Stoke, and Stokes-bay 
round the outer wall of the Hospital precinct. 

xMISCELLANIES. 

October, Thursday 1823. A beaked whale was discovered to have 
found its way into Haslar-lake, where on the ebb of the tide, it 
was left in a hole excavated for laying up the Rev. C. North's yacht, 
and was shortly afterwards discovered by some of the villagers of 
Alverstoke, who killed it and secured the carcase. It was twenty- 
four feet in length, and upwards of twelve feet in circumference, and 
required five horses to draw it on shore. 

Sunday, March 8, 1803. A hot press, and five hundred able sea- 
man obtained under the following circumstances. Captain Bowen, 
at ten o'clock at night, assembled a party of marines with as much 
noise and parade as possible, to march to quell a pretended riot at 
Haslar. As the news spread, hundreds of people ran to see the ex- 
pected affray; and Captain Bowen no sooner saw his object was 
obtained, than he placed a party of marines at the end of Haslar 
bridge, and took every man that answered bis purpose. 

Behind the hospital, and near the village of Stoke, is a triangular 
pillar of rough stone, formerly used as a landmark, in connexion 
with a second, which stood in the situation of Monkton Fort. They 
were termed the Kickergill and Gillkicker landmarks. 

The following inscription is (or was) on the Gillkicker. " This 
sea mark was erected by Robert Ear! <f Warwick, Admiral of the 
s°as — Captain Richard Blith Sen. his captain in the Prince Royal, 
and W. Cooke, master of attendant his master ; below was placed a 
coat of arms. 

Without the Fortifications, the country assumes a most pictur- 
esque and beautiful appearance. The villages of Forton, on the Lon- 
don road ; Bury, with its lofty trees ; Stoke, and its ancient church, 



3 

and the new villas of Anglesea Ville, on the edge of Stoke Com- 
mon, present objects of high interest ; and the land being intersect- 
ed by lakes in all directions, presents a much more diversified ap- 
pearance than on the Portsea side : 

" The land on which Gosport was built was the waste of the ma- 
nor in which the freeholders who are tenants of the manor have all 
a common right, and are as much interested as the lord of the soil, 
and the one cannot alienate, sell or lease without the consent of the 
other." 

There were a few years ago, trials in the Exchequer, and appeals to the 
Lords, viz. Parmeter v. the Attorney -General, &c. The merchants of Gos- 
port had erections upon what are called the Mud Lands of the Harbour, held 
under leases ; and the Lord Chancellor intimated, that in whatever instance 
such erections could be proved a nuisance, or injury to the harbour, they must 
be removed at the individuals' expense ; but where possession could be shown 
for sixty years, and the premises proved not to be a nuisance, he might, in such 
case, consider the grant, or lease, valid ; but if a nuisance, then the erections 
must be removed at the public's expense. From a grant made by Charles I. 
the inhabitants of Gosport had certain privileges in all mud lands between high 
and low water, on the whole coast of Hampshire, excepting only the liberties 
of the Corporate body of Portsmouth. Upon the validity of this grant, Messrs. 
Parmeter built a dock, which projected into the harbour ? and wharfs, had 
been erected by other merchants. These buildings had been deemed encroach- 
ments, and an injury to the navigation, by decreasing the space to be filled with 
the tide. Mr. Parmeter's case was ten years under judicial proceeding. Mr. 
Page of Gosport was deprived of his wharf. 

The Attorney-General v. William Carver and Brownlow, Bishop of Win- 
chester, to try whether certain premises held by Carver, under the Bishop, on 
the western side of Portsmouth harbour, were not a public nuisance, by ob- 
structing the tide, whereby sand banks were formed, and the harbour injured. 
The trial took place before the Barons of the Exchequer. The Chief Baron, 
in the entire absence of any evidence, other than that of opinion, to prove da- 
mage accruing to the harbour from Carver's wharf, advised the planitiff to ac- 
cept a nonsuit. 

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF GOSPORT. 

The Pansh Church of Gosport is situated at Alverstoke or Stoke y 
two miles from the town, and is a very ancient structure in the Sax- 
on style. It contains many curious monuments, and above the com- 
munion-table is an altar-piece representing the Lords's Supper. 
The cemetery is very large, and a second piece of land has been 
lately consecrated to a like purpose. The church has been of late 
years nearly rebuilt. 

The Rectory house is near the church, and was for a short period 
the residence of the Princess Donna Francisca, Consort of Don 
Carlos. 

DEATH OF DONNA FRANCISCA. 

Occurred at 35 minutes past eleven on Thursday morning last, at the Rectory,, 
Alverstoke. The disease manifested itself, in a billious attack, attended Avith 
inflamation, so acute was the inflammatory action, that every effort to relieve- 
proved abortive, and to the poignant grief of all around her, terminated fatally. 
The Princess was in the 35th year of her age, was married to the Infante Don; 



€arlos de Bourbon, on the 29th of September, 1816, and left three sons, who 
were all with her at the time of her death, as well as her sister, the Princess de 
Beira. 

On the morning of the death, the Catholic soldiers in the Garrison of Gos- 
port, attended at the Catholic Chapel, and celebrated Mass. 

King Wiiiiam, caused a letter of condolence to be written to the Princess 
Beira, that every facility might be afforded in transmitting the painful intelli- 
gence to Don Carlos; a Deputation of the gentry in the neighbourhood, wait- 
ed on the Princess of Beira, with an Address of Condolence from the Inhabi- 
tants of Gosport and vicinity. They were most graciously received by her 
Royal Highness, who was much effected by this mark of attention The Duke 
of Sussex sent also, to express his regret, and that of the other Members of the 
Royal Family of England, at the lamented event. The Bishop of Leon, never 
quitted the bedside of his Royal Mistress until she ceased to breathe. He ad- 
ministered to her the sacraments of the Catholic Church, and penned her last 
wishes in the form of a will. The Queen was perfectly resigned, and met her 
end with a calmness and serenity which astonished those who were weeping 
around her. She assembled her household, took leave of each, and to all left 
some token of remembrance. 

The body lay in state for several days in the principal room of the Rectory. 
The coffin rested upon a platform with three steps, under a handsome crimson 
canopy, and surrounded by eighteen large candlesticks, with tapers constantly 
kept burning, besides several branches. The royal arms of Spain and Portu- 
gal at the head of the coffin. There were four Spanish gardes de corps and a 
Priest, constantly in attendance. Serjeants of the 86th Regt. decorated with 
the arms of England, were in attendance, to preserve order in the house, while 
the remains of the late Queen were lying in state, open to public inspection. 
Thousands of persons of all ranks were freely admitted, and a drawing of the 
solemn scene was made by Mr. Ubsdell of Portsmouth. 

THE CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY. 

In the year 1696, Henry Player and other gentlemen of the pa- 
rish and borough of Gosport built by subscription the original church, 
upon a waste piece of land called Gosport common, near the Has- 
lar gateway. The church was seventy five feet long and fifty five 
feet broad, and it was consecrated and dedicated by Peter, Bishop 
of Winchester on the 27th of September with the understanding that 
the Curate was to be paid twenty pounds per annum : in the same 
year the freeholders and inhabitants of the manor, parish, and bo- 
rough surrendered to the Lords Court a piece of land surrounding 
the church for a cemetery, this being part of the waste of the ma- 
nor. In 1701. The Bishop granted license to William Ogilvie for 
the curacy of the church. In 1730, Richard Norton of Southwick 
house gave 200 pounds to repair and beautify the fabric, and in 
June, 1732, Colonel R. Norton gave one thousand pounds towards 
the maintainance of the-Curate, and 296 pounds were collected in 
the parish for the same purpose in 1734, and 289 pounds were spent 
in repairing the chuTch, which was lengthened considerably. 

In 1743. Mr. Whitehead left five hundred pounds, a Mr. Hum- 
phrey forty pounds, a subscription of two hundred and six pounds, 
and Queen Anne's bounty, of one hundred and forty four pounds 
were added together, and an estate called Spitfield farm, with 94 
acres of land was purchased for 940/. as an endowment, and thus 



the curacy became a benefice. In 1748, the trees were planted 
round the cemetery, and twenty-five years after this, fourteen 
hundred pounds were expended in repairs of the church : in 
1801, eight hundred and sixty pounds were raised by subscription 
for a parsonage house, and in 1828, the church was nearly rebuilt 
by subscription, and 250/. from the National Society, from designs 
of Mr. Owen ; a towei was added, and three hundred free seats for 
the poor. 

The old church was built of brick, with arched windows, and a 
low roof, formed of ragstone, in the Dutch style ; above the en- 
trance was a cupola. The interior consists of three aisles, separated 
by lofty pillars and arches, and the ceiling is arched. The com- 
munion-table is in a circular recess, with a painted ceiling and 
gilded cornice. 

" In the gallery above the entrance is a very fine organ, built un- 
der the immediate inspection of Handel, fornisown private use. 
It was purchased by the Duke of Chandos, and was placed in the 
chapel of * Timon's Villa,' at Cannons ; and after having become 
the property of a broker, was purchased for the church at Gosport 
for a very trifling sum." While the organ was at Cannons, Han- 
del rehearsed on it the anthems, and Pepusch the morning and even- 
ing services, which by command of the Duke, they composed for 
the use of the chapel on holy-days. The late Mr. B. West was 
organist of the church, for fifty-three years. 

THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, 
FORTON. 

A Subscription of eight hundred pounds having been raised, the 
Commissioners for building Churches supplied the remainder. 

The site was purchased from Mr. Wavell, and the contract for 
building the church was taken by Mr. Bramble at a cost of three 
thousand seven hundred and sixty pounds. The first stone was laid 
on August the twelfth, 1829, by the Rev. Edward Barnard, M. A. the 
Rector of Alverstoke, and Patron. The usual coins, and the follow- 
ing inscription on brass being deposited. " Hujus templi DEO sacra- 
ti Britaniarum senatus munificentia, et donis privatis cedifieandis pre- 
mum posuit lapidem Edwardus Barnard, parchice Alverstoke Rec- 
tor die August 12 anno Regis Georgii IV— X— -Salutis humanse 
mdcccxxix — T. E. Owen Architect : 

The Church was consecrated by Richard Sumner, Bishop of 
Winchester, on April the 6th, 1831, and the Reverend Audrey Veck, 
M.A. of Magdalen Hall Oxon, was appointed the Incumbent. The 
communion plate, consisting of a chalice, cup, patena, and plate of 



6 

embossed silver from an antique pattern, found at Athens in the third 
century was presented to the church by Mrs. and the Misses Veck, the 
mother and sisters of the first incumbent. Messrs. Charles Patten, 
and William Parmeter were the first chapel-wardens. 

The organ was the private property of Handel ; there is a small 
figure of the musician on the summit, a copy of the one in West- 
minster Abbey. 

The church is in length ninety-two feet, and in breadth forty-seven 
feet ; from the entrance to the gothic screen is eighty-four feet, but 
on the exterior the length is one hundred feet, the tower is eighty- 
four feet high ; there are eleven hundred and sixty sittings, of which 
seven hundred are free. 

Attached to the church is a new school-room, built in 1832J 
the first stone being laid by the Rev, Mr. Veck on May the 8th. This 
school is sixty feet long, twenty feet broad and twenty feet high. The 
cost of this building was four hundred pounds, towards which the 
National Society granted ninety, the Winchester committee twenty 
pounds, and the remainder was raised by subscription, and the pro- 
ceeds of several concerts of music. 200 children are educated in this 
school, and 12 choristers receive musical instruction for the chapel, 
and at no other place in the neighbourhood is the musical portion 
of the liturgy performed so well as in this church. 

The district of St John, for which this isthe place of worship, con- 
tains according to the census of 1831, — 2285 persons. 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The original (,'hurch was very small and stood where is now 
Blake's brewery ; the present one was erected in 1776, by the Right 
Rev. Dr. Talbot, a younger brother of the ancient and noble family 
of the Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury. This is small — it is in a Court 
in High-street, but is remarkable as the (temporary) Burial-place 
of the Queen of Spain, for whose interment it was enlarged. There 
is a probability that this church will be entirely rebuilt, on a large 
scale : in which case the houses in the high street which belong to 
the church, will be removed. 

FUNERAL PROCESSION OF THE QUEEN OF SPAIN. 

The procession "began to move from the Rectory about eleven, which was 
announced by minute guns from the Portsmouth garrison. His Majesty's Ship 
Victory, and the Netherlands line-of-battle-ship De Zeuw, in succession, until 
the close of the funeral. 

The Royal Standard of Spain was hoisted half-mast in the Garrison, and o& 
beard ©f every ship j all the British eolours were als© hoisted half-mast. 



PROGRAMME OF THE FUNERAL PROCESSION. 

Two Beadles, staffs covered -with crape. 
Mr. Crook, the Undertaker, supported by Pages in full mourning costume, 

Four Mutes, 
The Lid of Feathers supported by four Pages, and Six Mutes on Horseback, ia 

Cloaks and Hatbands. 
Mourning Carriage and Four, containing the Clergymen, supported by walk- 
ing Pages. 
Two Mourning Carriages and Four, containing Doctors Lara, Kid, and Llort, 
supported by walking Pages. — The second containing the Major Domo of the 
household, the Chief of the Palace, the principal Officer of the Garde-de-Corps, 
and the Groom in waiting. 

A Colour Guard of Honour from the Royal Marines, commanded by Capt. 
Swale, followed by the Royal Marine Band: 

During the procession this fine Band performed the solemn March composed 
for the Funeral of George the Fourth. 

Jewelled Diadem on a crimson velvet Cushion, borne by Major-General Mar- 
tinez, uncovered, on a State Horse, enveloped in Black housings and supported 
by Brigader-Gen. Don Juan de Amarillas and Brigadier-General Gutierez, fol- 
lowed by Eight Grooms in black velvet caps. 

THE BODY 

in a Hearse, drawnby eight horses, covered with black housings, bearing the 
initials of the deceased, surmounted with the Spanish Crown, each horse led 
by a Groom ; the Hearse covered with plumes and streamers, bearing heraldie 
emblems ; six Pages, with truncheons, walked on each side of the Hearse. 

The Chief Mourners — His Excellency the Bishop of Leon, the Right 
Hon. Lord Stuart -de Rothsay, and his Excellency the Baron de Capelle, in 
a carriage, drawn by six horses in full housings ; followed by eight mourning 
coaches, with four horses each, containing Magistrates of the County, and the 
Spanish Officers who belonged to the Royal Household or Body Guard. All 
these coaches were attended by Pages, in mourning, with their staves covered 
with black 6ilk. The procession, was received at the Chapel by a Guard of 
Honour from the 86th regiment. 

The inner coffin was of mahogany, polished, and lined with white satin, 
satin mattress, pillow and sheet ; this was enclosed in lead, with a name 
plate The state coffin was of Hispaniola mahogany, covered with crimson 
Genoa velvet, splendidly ornamented with rows of silver gilt nails, silver gilt 
furniture, and handles with sun rays, ornamented with a Spanish crown. The 
lid bore the Royal arms of Spain and Portugal massively chased and gilt, with 
the crown of Spain supported by scrolls ; the plate, with the inscription gilt 
in pure gold, beneath which the crucifix was placed. It was lined with white 
satin, and secured with three patent locks, the keys of which were handed over 
to the family. 

The splendor of the pageant, aided by the fineness of the day, drew such a 
crowd of persons together, as Gosport has seldom or never witnessed ; the 
road, ramparts, houses, and streets were thronged with spectators. 

As the procession passed through Gosport the shops were shut and the win- 
dows thronged with spectators, in mourning. Some of the balconies were also 
hung in black. The hearse reached the chapel at twelve. The body was 
placed on a platform raised in the centre of the building with burning tapers 
around ; the coffin covered with a fine Holland sheet, and a black velvet pall, 
ornamented with ten escutcheons. After the first part of the ceremony was 
over, a funeral oration was pronounced by the Rev. John Clark and the body 
was then deposited in a vault, at the foot of the altar : where repose the fe- 
mains of this daughter of Braganza. 

Notwithstanding the immense concourse lining each side of the road, the 
procession moved on in perfect order, and without the smallest interruption, 
every person in solemn silence, numbers in tears, testifying the deepest regret 
at the untimely loss of an illustrious foreigner. 

The Princess de Beria, to testify her sense of the attention of the physicians, 



8 

sent to Dr Kidd, a brilliant ring, worn by the deceased, and to Dr. Lara, % 
note for 20*. 

Dr. Quarrier, in his report to the Duke of Wellington, Lord Lieutenant of 
of the County, and to Lord Duncannon, Secretary of State for the Home De- 
partment, observed — " The Magistrates feel highly indebted to the Special 
Constables for the good order maintained throughout the Funeral of the Donna 
Francisca d' Assis de Bourbon, and particularly to Major Mac Pherson, of the 
99th Regiment, for the judicious arrangement of the troops, and for the manner 
in which the Major aided the Civil authorities. Though there were not less* 
than 60,000 persons assembled in the line of the procession, not the slightest 
accident or disturbance occurred. The orderly conduct of the Officers and 
soldiers of the 86th and 99th Regiments, while pressed upon by the populace 
in their desire to view the remains of the late Infanta, while laying in State, 
at the Rectory of Alverstoke deserves praise." 



The Independent Chapel at Gosport is a spacious brick edifice, in 
the High-street, capable of seating twelve hundred persons. The 
first minister was the Rev. Walter Marshall, fellow of the New Col- 
lege, Oxon. vicar of Hursley, from which he was ejected by the act 
of uniformity, he continued so till 1690. The next was John 
Clifford, who officiated for thirty years, and who purchased to the 
use of the chapel a handsome house at the upper end of the High- 
street. His successor was John Harrison. After twelve years 
Thomas Williams became pastor, in whose room James Watson was 
chosen minister. This gentleman continued however, only six 
years ; for entering on the study of the law, he was a barrister, be- 
came M.P. was knighted, and appointed Judge of the Supreme Court 
of Bengal, where he died, in 1777. 1777, Sir James Watson was suc- 
ceeded in the ministry by David Bogue, a man of great erudition 
and piety. His work on the divine authority of the New Testament 
has been translated into many of the Continental languages. The 
Doctor was also author of " Sermons," " Reasons for seeking a repeal 
of the Corporation and Test Acts ;" " the History of Dissenters.' * 
He was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society. He 
died in October 1825 ; and a public funeral, testified the respect of 
his congregation. 

The Presbyterian Chapel of Gosport was opened July 4th, 1827 ; 

It stands on the site of the old theatre, which was purchased and 
converted to its present use, and the walls of which still form th© 
south and west sides. It will seat eight hundred persons. 

The Methodist Chapel is in the High-street. 



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